(Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
What the boys and I do there at the church and the camp is try to keep the grounds. I guess we’re the groundskeepers. I always have to quote that verse to myself and to the kids: (Psalm 84:10) For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door(grounds)keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Anyhow, that’s what we do. We mow the grass at the camp. And whatever else comes our way. We mow the grass, weed-eat, spray, mulch, pickup sticks, sweep, mop, vacuum, fix some things, clean the bathrooms. We try to do whatever is needed. And please… I’m not trying to brag or anything like that. I’m telling you that’s what we do. That is what has consumed my life; my family’s life. This is what has consumed my family’s life for the past, getting close to, two years.
Now, I’ll say, however, I believe God called me to preach. That is why I came to bible college for those three years. I came because I wanted to learn more about the bible and preaching in hopes that one day I’d preach. And I don’t do much of that. I don’t typically preach the word; I mow the grass. The bible says to be instant in season, out of season, and mowing season. But I believe I’m where God wants me to be right now. Anyhow, I am preaching right now. And I preached Sunday night over at Brother Thomas’. So that’s 2 nights in these past four days. That’s 1 out of 2 nights. That’s like preaching every other day now. So I’m gonna have to check my schedule now if someone wants me to preach.
The other day, a young guy, a visitor, at the camp came up to me. He was probably 20 years old. He saw us working out there spreading mulch or something, and he felt compelled to come and give me some advice. Let me say this: If you’re 20 years old, don’t give 45 year old advice. Just don’t do it. I mean it’s probably not a good idea. Just study to be quiet. Anyway, he said, “You know God is gonna bless you. If you’re faithful in these little things, he’s gonna trust you with the bigger things. He’s gonna put you somewhere one day.” And I just smile and nod my head and say thank you.
And in a vacuum, it’s not terrible advice. It sounds good and all. But it takes me a while to digest it, but I finally thought, “God is gonna bless me? God has already blessed me. God is blessing me.” It is a blessing to serve God. It is a blessing to work at the camp. It’s a blessing to mow the grass. It’s a blessing to blow the leaves. It’s a blessing to sweep and mop the floors. It’s a blessing to be a part of the work of God, no matter what shape or form it may be.
You think of the souls that have been saved there at the camp. The preachers that have been called. The lives that have been changed. It’s a blessing to make a contribution to that work. I remember 13 years ago when we first came for school. I was sweeping the porch of the preachers dorm and I remembered seeing Brother Marion Atkinson come out of the door there and walk across that porch. And my sweeping turned to weeping. I was so grateful to just be able to sweep at the feet of the man of God. God help me to never be ungrateful for the opportunity to serve him. I don’t want to sit on the side line.
“God is gonna bless you one day.” God has already blessed me. I know he is able to do exceeding abundant above all we ask or think. But to always be looking ahead as if there’s something better or different, in a sense, is to be ungrateful for all that God has done thus far and all that he is doing right now. Would I like to have a position as a pastor or evangelist or missionary or something with a title? What preacher wouldn’t. When Preacher says, “Will all the God-called, God-sent preachers come down to the front…” I struggle with that. I know God called me. And I know that God has sent me here. But God has not exactly called me to a formal position in the church. You might think, “Well that shouldn’t matter!” Maybe not. But nonetheless, it’s easy to fall into the wrong type of thinking and become malcontent, and dissatisfied, and develop a spirit of wander-lust. The bible says (1 Timothy 6:6) But godliness with contentment is great gain. You gotta be careful what kind of advice you give people. “God is gonna bless you one day?”
Anyhow, I believe I’m where God wants me and doing what God wants me to do. I remember telling one of the brothers at the church when we were out at the camp working. I said, “I believe in the work.” If I didn’t believe in the work that Faith Baptist Camp and Concord Baptist Church was doing, I would not be there. I wouldn’t be all in. And that what we are. We’re all in. We are there helping and working as much as we can. We even got the two small ones, Pat, Ben, and Grady, hauling trash to the dumpster. Anyhow, I’m not bragging. I’m just trying to say that we’re all there and we’re always there. When you’re all there and you’re always there, you’re gonna learn a few things along the way. It’s hard not to learn a few things.
So I got this message August of last year. I’ve never preached it other that last Sunday at Brother Thomas’s. Being that it was camp meeting, this message has been in my heart so I thought and even hoped maybe God would give me liberty to preach this message now. And he seems to have opened the door so I’m gonna walk through if you will. And I’m nervous about preaching this here at the church because it’s so relevant in a sense. It’s about the camp. All of us, have a part in that. And many here have labored years and years at the camp. And I’ll never catch up with the work they’ve done. I don’t have the knowledge some do. I’m nobody. So I don’t want to come across as braggadocious or belittling.
Anyhow, so I wrote somethings down: Lessons I’ve Learned at Faith Baptist Camp. This is not a real complicated message. There will be no mind-stretching going on tonight. It’s not expository or anything like that. It’s just a simple list. I don’t even think it qualifies as a topical message. Lessons I’ve Learned at Faith Baptist Camp; specifically Hindrances to the Work of God. When we go out there and try to do our part of the work of God. It’s not preaching, praying, singing, or even cooking. It’s mowing, sweeping, mopping, cleaning, etc. When we go out there and try to do our part of the work of God there are hindrances. There’s things that slow you down, discourage you, and prevent you from doing your part in the work. (Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. There are things that make you weary. They are hindrances to the work of God.
1) Seized Wheels
You can’t mop with seized wheels
This is one thing that has been a constant source of aggravation. You’re trying to get across the floor with the mop bucket and the wheels don’t turn and they don’t swivel. It used to be on Friday afternoon before the evening service, Preacher said we’re gonna sweep and mop. So I’d be all dressed up for the evening service: got my dress shirt and tie. And I’ll go down and mop. It’s summer-time. It’s hot. You want to minimize the sweating. It’s a large dining hall. You want to work as quickly as you can and cover as much territory as possible. But when the bucket does not roll, you’ve got yourself a major problem. It’s a wrestling match between you and the bucket. Normally, if the wheels are working right, you should be able to just grab the mop handle and walk where you want. But instead… (Explain) It’s difficult to do the work of God when you can’t move like you should be able to move. You scratch the floor. You hurt your back. You spill all the water. You’re just plain ineffective. Brother Thomas said, “I seemed like I always got the bucket that didn’t roll!”
(Hebrews 12:1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. I’m talking about hindrances to the work of God. Paul said to run the race. Jesus said to go ye therefore! Paul said to walk in the Spirit. Isaiah said (Isaiah 40:31) They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. You can’t go anywhere with wheels that don’t turn. You can’t mop with seized wheels. The weight that so easily besets the mopper are the seized wheels. Three time Jesus says to go. (Matthew 22:9) Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. He said (Matthew 28:19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Mark 16:15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Jesus is saying “Go! Go! Go!” I don’t see how we’re gonna go anywhere with wheels that don’t work.
I want to give you a bible picture of wheels that work. (Romans 10:14-15) And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! What a joy it is at Faith Baptist Camp to find a bucket that rolls; How beautiful it is to find a bucket whose wheels and not seized; to deliver the cleansing water to the places that need it most.
Now we have to understand that working wheels doesn’t just happen. Sometimes, you just need a little squirt of oil in there, and they’ll free up and start turning like they should. Other times, you got to take them apart, sand all the rust off, pack it all with grease, put it all back together, and hope for the best. And other times, you need to just throw them away and put on some new ones. Sometimes, it’s better to just throw the whole bucket away and get a new one.
Either way, you got to spend some time, or money, or effort on those wheels. New wheels only last for a little while. Now Romans 10 is not the only time Paul addresses the feet. He also said (Ephesians 6:15) to stand therefore (having) …your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Paul uses the analogy of the soldier. The feet must be maintained and serviced and prepared for duty. Soldiers have got to have good shoes. Soldiers march. Therefore, soldiers need good combat boots. Those boots could take a beating. With those boots, the soldier is prepared to fight. Those boots allow the soldier to be nimble and light. And he will be able to move as a soldier should move. A mop bucket with bad wheels is like a soldier without his combat boots. Paul said shod the feet!
What does it mean to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. What is the preparation of the gospel of peace? We know what the gospel of peace is? (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel… For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: The gospel of peace is the good news from a loving merciful God to a lost and dying world. We know that. Paul is saying our feet should be shod with the preparation of this message of salvation. Prepare you mind? No. Prepare you heart? No. It’s prepare your feet. If the wheels are bad, it’s going to be a short trip. You’re going to make a mess. You’re going to get hurt. Or you’ll just give up.
Have you feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peach. That word preparation is the greek word hetoimasia and only used this one time in the New Testament. It carries the meaning of a foundation, a footing, the basis. Have your feet shod with the foundation, the footing, the basis of the gospel of peace. And then Paul uses the word shod. The preparation of the gospel must be shod on. That’s a horse term right there. Horse shoes are nailed on to the hoof; they’re shod.
Let me just give you my application. I don’t want you to guess. We’re talking about wheels that don’t roll. Christians that don’t go. Why? Because they’re feet are not fastened to foundation of the gospel of peace. What are you saying preacher? It’s very easy lose sight of the greater work just working in one spot. You wash dishes all week, you forget that somebody else is cleaning the bathrooms, somebody else it taking out the trash, somebody else is leading the prayer room, somebody else is running the sound, somebody else is ordering the food, somebody else is fixing the ice machines, or plugging a leak. There is a lot going on in that one week. You play a small, and a necessary part. But you can be so focused on what you’re doing, you lose sight of greater work that the church is trying to do. We might just be pushing a mop bucket, but it’s part of a greater work..
But I want to say this to you church: And I believe God whispered this to me: “It’s not just a greater work, it’s the greatest work!” I’m saying we push that mop bucket around for the gospel’s sake. It’s not about cleaning the floor, it’s about winning souls for Jesus. That’s the foundation of what we do. It’s God’s gospel of peace. It’s about the redemption of man. It’s about God’s gift to a lost and dying world. It’s about trying to snatch people from the jaws of hell.
We no doubt need a heart for sinners. Amen? That’s good. But what is even better are feet for sinners. That will get the job done. Do whatever it takes to get those wheels moving.
Give your most intense thought to the study of ways and means you may save sinners. Make this the great and intense study of your life. Refuse to be diverted from this work. Guard against every temptation that would abate your interest in it. – Charles Finney.
One of the biggest hindrances to the work of God are seized wheels. You can’t mop with seized wheels. Do whatever it takes to get those wheels moving. Do whatever it takes to get into the greatest work in heaven and earth.
2) Dirty Mops
You can’t mop with a dirty mop
Like I said, on Friday afternoon (Sometimes Wednesday if I remember right) we’d get all them mop buckets out there to mop. And maybe some of you all can relate to this. You get to the buckets and you’re ready to mop the floor. But what is in the bucket is not clean, hot, soapy water. It’s hot chocolate with bits of crickets in the bucket ready for mopping. And that didn’t come out of the water fountain or the soap bottle. It came from the mop. You can’t mop with a dirty mop. You can’t clean a filthy floor with a filthy mop. Amen? Nobody cleaned the mops is what happened.
Listen, before David said (Psalms 51:13) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee, he said Wash me! Cleanse me! Purge me! He said (Psalm 51:9-11) Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. He said “Then! And only” Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. You’ll do no good trying to clean up a dirty floor with a dirty mop. You’ll just pickup dirt from one spot and carry it off to the next. You’re just gonna spread the dirt.
They need to be cleaned. And cleaned good. One rinse is not gonna cut it. No. David said (Psalm 51:2) Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Throughly? That’s another King James Bible word right there. You’re not going to find that in to any other bibles. It’s not thoroughly, it’s throughly. That means two things. That means wash the inside. David said (Psalm 51:6) Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Wash me throughly means to pour the wash water through me. (Matthew 23:26) …cleanse first that which is within the cup… Don’t just pour the wash water on me, but pour it through me.
And then it carries the meaning with it of multiplicity. That means don’t just do it once, but do it over and over and over; until the job is done. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19-21) …Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
I’m talking about lessons we’ve learned at Faith Baptist Camp. You can’t mop with a dirty mop. Now days, separation is old fashioned. Holiness is old fashioned. Purity is old-fashioned. It may be old-fashioned and out of style, but the work of God cannot be done without it. You know I got to thinking. At the camp, the attendance has come down from what it used to be. There may not be the amount of people there, but I think that power is still there. Why? Because Brother Allen, Brother Ballew, Brother Sutherland, and those who have been faithful to the camp have stayed true to things like separation, holiness, and purity.
For years I’ve been saying this to people about Faith Baptist Camp. I tell them that I’d highly recommend that if you do go, try to go for the whole thing. In other words. Don’t just pop in for evening service. Come in at 8 o’clock and partake first of whole hog sausage, and go to the morning prayer, morning service, afternoon prayer, afternoon service, evening prayer, and evening service. If you do that. You’ll never be the same. Something different happens when you stay all day and all week. I’ve been saying that for years. Well you know what happened this past meeting? Brother Thomas’s oldest son, Jeremiah, he said, “This time around, it was the best I had ever been to and I got alot of help. I’ve always just come for evening service because I’m working, but this time, I got to stay all day.” He confirmed to me what I’d been saying fo years. It’s different when you focus in and open your heart to the things of God all day at Faith Baptist Camp. Why is that? Because the power is still there.
There was a fella that came last year in the books store. He was all excited. It was Friday afternoon. Everybody was getting ready for the evening service. He said this: “This is the first time I’ve been to Faith Baptist Camp. It has changed my life!” Why? Because the power is still there. We may not have the same amount of people, but I believe we’ve got the same power. I’ve often thought it might be a good idea for the people of Concord to take a break from Faith Baptist Camp and go to Faith Baptist Camp. I’m saying go sit down on the front row all day long, say Amen to everything, sing the songs of Glory and then go pig out. Do it all week long. Maybe even stay in the dorm.
God is still getting the job done. Why? Because the mop is clean. Because the vessels that God is using are sanctified, cleansed, and purged for the master’s use. They’re ready to apply the cleansing water the places that need it most. You can’t mop with a dirty mop. It’s got to be washed throughly and cleansed and purged. David said (Psalms 51:13) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Then, and only then.
3) Thick Grass
The grass is always thicker than you think
I want to say this: I never regret mowing the grass when we do mow the grass. During the summer, when you drive down the road across the camp, the grass from a distance never really looks that thick. Even when you drive up in the camp, you look across and it doesn’t ever look that bad. So you think to yourself that maybe we don’t have to mow right now. After all, the grass looks nice and pretty and lush. But this never fails. Every time we go out there, once we get out there into the deep, I say to my self, “I’m glad we’re mowing this. It does need it. And it would not have been a good idea to let it go further.” In other words, it’s always thicker than it looks. The first impression is always wrong. What things look like from a distance is never indicative of reality.
So what are you saying? What is the bible lesson in all this? (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Lush, green, pretty grass is not so pretty when it’s time to mow it. Brother Sutherland has said before, “The grass may be greener on the other side, but there may be a septic field on the other side too.” You just don’t know what you’re getting into until you get into it. If you’ve ever worked on a repairing a house, you know what I’m talking about. What starts out as a little honey-do, turns into a full house remodel. You’re just trying to fix one little thing, but once you tear into it, now you got to fix the floor, and the wall, and before you know it, you could call Bob Villa film your own This Old House episode. That’s why wise men don’t do honey-dos. Because we know that they sound short and sweet, but you always end up like John in Revelation (Revelation 10:10) And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
“Oh yeah, no problem, that’s a five minute job!” And there you are 5 hours later still working on it. And if you actually succeed at doing it in 5 minutes, you’ll be there 5 days later doing it again and this time, doing it right. I’m just saying, the grass is always thicker than you think. But you’ll never regret doing regularly what is tempting to put off til later. You ever wonder how far you would be spiritually, if you didn’t have to spend the whole week of meeting getting right? What if we went into the meeting already right? I’m not talking sinless perfection. I’m just saying it’s so easy to put off the regular maintenance of daily prayer and daily bible reading because things seems to be going okay. You go to church three times a week. No crisis. No trials. But before you know it, there we are bogged down in the thick grass.
I’m not saying it’s always going to be easy mowing. In fact, I’ve found that when you finally got a week of easy mowing, things have kinda stopped growing, maybe no rain, you think, “Great! Finally we should get these jobs done fast. It’s gonna be easy mowing!” That’s when the customer says, “Don’t come this week. It could wait.” So there’s never really ever easy mowing. It’s hard enough even by powers that are out of our control. But sometimes, the job is harder because we made it harder ourselves. We looked out there and said, “Ah! It’s okay, we can put that off a little longer.” We don’t need to that right now. You know that saying? Why put off til tomorrow what you can do today? Amen? Well, I always tell my wife Why do today what you can put off til tomorrow? Listen. The grass is always thicker than you think. Don’t put it off.
Let me say again: It’s so easy to put off the regular maintenance of daily prayer and daily bible reading because things seems to be going okay. But the reality is this: (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? This is another reason, we don’t go by feelings. We usually hear about the negative side of that. “I don’t feel saved today!” Well it doesn’t matter what you feel. We don’t go by feelings. The just shall live by faith; faith in the facts. If you were saved yesterday, you are saved today. That’s the negative side. What about the positive side? “Boy that was a great service! We had good prayer in church. I feel good. Let’s go to bed.” “Man we spent all week at Faith Baptist Camp. We’re tired. We gotta catch up. We got a lot of bible in and prayer in. We’ll be okay for a few days. I feel good.” Our feelings don’t change the facts: (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Let no hour, no employment of your lives be accounted more precious than when you bend at the family altar. Come to it cheerfully and solemnly. Let no temptation of evening or morning make your place empty, when the the holy offering is to be made. Be you there to add your coal to the flame, and have your share in the incense which goes up before God.
The grass is always thicker than you think. You know, I’ve heard many times in our mowing adventures, “Don’t cut the grass to short! You’re gonna kill it!” I’ve heard people say, “Don’t cut it too often because that will kill it!” And I’m not saying I know everything, but we’ve been cutting a lot of grass these two years, and I hadn’t seen any grass die because we cut it. It’s usually just the weather. Some grass thrives in the heat and some don’t. Some in cooler weather and some not. But several times, I’ve done some research on the matter and let me tell you what the experts say. The best way to kill grass is not to cut it too short or cut it too often, but to let it grow too long. You let it get out of hand, and then when you finally cut it, you end up taking out 95% of the plant out, and sometimes, it just won’t survive.
You’ll never regret doing regularly what is tempting to put off til later. Because the grass is always thicker than you think.
4) Unwacked Weeds
Nobody wants to do the weed eating
I know when we first started mowing, everybody wants to just jump on the mower and mow. “Dad, can I mow this time?” “It’s my turn. Finny mowed last time!” But nothing completes the job like weed eating completes the job. I know when we mow across the white fence at the camp, and there’s still that scraggly look all along the fence line, then the job is not done. Someone has got to get on foot and get down there and weed eat the fence line. It just looks like a mess when there’s overgrowth around the trees, down in the ditch, around the culverts, in the gardens, the edge of the driveways. Someone has got to do the weed eating. But that the job that nobody wants to do. There’s nothing glorious about mowing grass. Really, anybody can do that. But there’s something about that weed eating. It’s tedious. It’s tiring. There’s been times when I’ve been slopping through eight inches of swamp, weed eating the swamp, in the heat of the day, mud slinging up at your face, dog poop slinging up at your face. One time, in the mucky muddy swamp, we were knocking the overgrowth down and I slipped and couldn’t get my balance and down I went in the swamp. It’s times like that you think, “What am I doing?” I’ll tell you what I was doing. I was doing what nobody else really wants to do. And God help me. I’m not bragging. I love doing it.
Anyway, it’s tedious and tiring, but if you don’t do the weed eating, the lawn will never look like it’s finished. The mower doesn’t reach in the corners and at the edges and around the trees. You have to go in there by hand and knock it down. I mean if you’re taking a bath and neglect the corners and the edges and the hard to get to places, that is not a complete job. We have several customers that do their own mowing and we just go in there and the the trimming, the weed eating. the spraying. Why is that? Because mowing really is the easy part. It’s all the other stuff that is tedious and tends to not get done sometimes.
Take for example a tree. If you don’t weed eat around a tree, then you got these little sampling come out. You let them go long enough, then you can weed eat them, they’re too thick. You need snips now. If you don’t get them then, now you got a bush around the tree. And that bush grows bigger and bigger in diameter and before you know it, instead of mowing one foot around the tree, you’re mowing 3 feet around the tree. Now, what should have been taken care of in 30 seconds of weed eating is now gonna take an hour with a chainsaw and hedge trimmers. Don’t forget all the trash that everybody left against the tree. Why? Because nobody want to do the weed eating.
(Matthew 23:23) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
You all know the immortal words of Marry Poppins? Well begun is half done. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. You might be doing great in one area, but don’t neglect the other areas. It got me thinking about the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:3-9 (KJV) And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:18-23 (KJV) Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
I don’t want to stray from how we primarily interpret scripture. But I asked myself the other day: Why do we assume that the he in this parable is always someone different every time he is mentioned? We always assume that our ground is only one or the other: the stony ground, the good ground, thorny ground, or the way-side. We know that song My Secret Place. It talks about how the heart is like a house, and we’re okay letting Jesus in the house, but we got some places in that house that we’re not ready for Jesus to enter. Or do you remember Preacher Allen has said many times, “Why don’t you just give him the keys to the whole house?”
Well, the heart is like a farm. Every farm has got every type of ground. Good ground, stony ground, thorny places, and the way side. (Jeremiah 4:3) For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Every farm has got fallowed ground. Every farm has got thorns. We take care of the front yard real good, but nobody sees the back yard. Nobody sees back around the house where the thorns are growing and the weeds are running rampant. No. No one wants to do the weed eating.
I think generally, we are pretty complex people. Everybody is different. Brother Sutherland was talking about them strongholds, them besetting sins, them thorns in the flesh. It’s different for everybody. We may be doing great in some areas. We’ve made some spiritual break-throughs in some areas, but in others… Boy we just can’t seem to get the victory. Unwacked-weeds! The answer is not to just let it go. Praise the Lord that the grass is mowed! These ought ye to have done! But Jesus goes on to say and not to leave the other undone.
I want you to notice also what Jesus said, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. Let me ask you this: How do you know that the weeds unwacked are not weightier than the grass that’s mowed? We just assume that mowing the grass is the most important and that the weed wacking could wait because it’s not as important. That little thing you’ve been waiting to deal with may be the big thing that God is concerned about. That little thing you’re neglecting may be much weightier to God that that big thing you’ve spent all your time on.
Paul said, ( 1 Corinthians 13:1-3) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
I’ve got to move on. Unwacked weeds. Nobody wants to do the weed eating.
5) Unopened valves
Make sure all the water valves are open
I just learned this one this camp meeting. You learn something new every camp meeting. We had an issue with the toilets. The toilets in the sanctuary are tankless. They need pressure to operate correctly. So everytime we flushed a toilet, the pressure would drop. And a pressure drop is normal but it should be almost minuscule if everything is working right. It would drop too much and for too long. So consequently, your neighbor in the other stall flushes their toilet right after you in that little window of low pressure and lo and behold, it doesn’t flush. Then, the three women in women’s bathroom flush their toilet. They don’t flush. More pressure has dropped. Nothing flushes. Toilets get clogged. That’s it. Everybody’s tearing their hair out because the toilets don’t flush. The good news is though that if you just leave it alone for a minute, you can flush each toilet one by one.
And the faucets run real low too so naturally, most sensible men would think we must have a leak out there somewhere because the pressure is low. So I don’t know how many of us went out there looking for a leak, but no leak to be found. Shane and I went looking. Kendell went looking. Brother West went looking. But no leak to be found. I think I actually lost sleep over this. I had to take a baby aspirin about this. So finally Theodore comes in, the plumber, and his plumber instincts kick in and the first thing he does is go to the primary source of the water all the way back out at the road and check to see if all the valves are open. And sure enough one of those little valves is half open.
What we were having was a volume problem. It manifested itself as a slight drop in pressure. But if we waited a few seconds really, the pressure would come back. That tells us that there is no problem with the pressure. It’s a volume problem. It means that the volume coming out is larger than the volume coming in. As long as the pressure come back, even if it comes back slow, when everything is shut off and there is no leak, then there’s really no pressure problem. We have a volume problem. So what happens when the valve is shut off half way, or opened half way for you optimists, essentially what you are doing is restricting the water flow. That is equivalent to having some type of plug in the pipe restricting the water from flowing.
This speaks to me of prayer. (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: Your heart is the pipeline to heaven. If you regard iniquity your heart, then there is a plug in the prayer pipe. There is a kink in the prayer hose. There is a short in the prayer cable. There is something keeping the water from flowing like it should. Make sure all the valves are open. Why? Because (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: We’re talking about hindrances to the work of God. If the Lord will not hear me, we got ourselves a major problem.
The other day, brother Janow said something in class that got me thinking. And I jotted down some notes; some thoughts I was thinking. And it was about this verse (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: I got to thinking about this verse, and I shuttered at these thoughts. A cold fear came over me just thinking about this. The Lord will not hear me. The Lord will not hear me. This verse puts a quiet terror in my heart. The Lord will not hear me.
We’ve hear over and over and over: (Jeremiah 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee… I will answer thee. I will answer thee. I will answer thee. How is the Lord going to answer you, if he won’t hear you? There’s been many times, that I didn’t feel like God heard my prayer. But my faith knew that God always hears my prayers and will answer them. How many times have we heard, (Matthew 7:7) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: It’s been drilled into us. It’s foundational to our faith that God hears us when we pray. (Isaiah 59:1) Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: I’ve know in my heart that God has heard my prayers. Even prayers that I prayed years ago that God is answering today. It’s confirmed in my heart over and over that God hears me when I pray.
That’s why there was something fearful that came over me when I considered this verse (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: If we regard iniquity in our heart, it will turn upside down any prayer verse the bible gives us. It’s like a negative sign in math. You’re putting a negative sign in front of every prayer verse when we regard iniquity in our heart. It’s a serious things. Try putting a negative sign in front of your checking account. If you have $1000 and you put a negative sign in front of it, you don’t just lose $1000, you now owe $1000.
(Psalm 34:17)The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. How is the Lord gonna deliver you if he won’t hear you.
(Psalm 145:18-19)The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, How is the Lord gonna draw nigh unto you if he won’t hear you. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. How is he going to fulfil your desire? How is he going to save you when he won’t hear you.
(Jeremiah 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. What kind of vision? What kind of shortsightedness will we have if God doesn’t hear us.
(Matthew 18:18) Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. There will be no binding or loosing in heaven if God will no hear me.
It’s not that he can’t hear me, but that he will not hear me if I regard iniquity in my heart. You know, a valve that is half open doesn’t sound like a real serious thing. No. It doesn’t unless we’re talking about one of those valves in your heart. Now we’re talking life or death.
The thing about the toilet problems at the camp was that for a little while, about a day or more, nobody really knew what the problem was or where the problem was. We couldn’t find a leak. We even check some of the valves that had recently been fiddled with. But to no avail. It wasn’t until the master plumber showed up that the problem was found. Amen?
That’s why we pray: (Psalm 139:23-24) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Praise God for the Holy Spirit because the Bible says: (Romans 8:26-27) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Make sure all the valves are open. I’m talking about the camp. But you do understand I’m not talking about the camp.
Can’t mop with seized wheels. This speaks of our motivation to serve God. Everything we do, every step we make is service to God. We labor 24/7, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We must keep going. We must press on the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. We must run the race with patience. Those wheels have got to turn. Everything just seems to to work better, when it works for Jesus. That’s all I’m saying.
Can’t mop with a dirty mop. This speaks of our separation, our holiness, our purity before God. ( Titus 2:11-12) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Can I say this: We live separated, holy, godly lives not so that we can be saved, so that by the grace of God, others might be saved.
The grass is always thicker than you think. This speaks of our consistency and devotion to God. This speaks of our understanding of our sinful nature. We distrust the flesh. We need and desire to follow after the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. We stay close to him. We never wander far ahead or never fall behind. We do this through faithful prayer, bible devotion, and worship of God; private, family, and church.
Nobody wants to do the weed eating. This speaks of our thoroughness in the things of God. I know we don’t have all our i’s dotted and our t’s crossed. But that doesn’t mean we brag about it. It means we start dotting those i’s and crossing those t’s for the glory of God.
Make sure all the water valves are open. This speaks of our prayer life. Like I said, I’m talking about the camp. But you understand I’m not talking about the camp. Things just don’t work right if there’s an obstruction in the line. (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
All these 5 topics deal with our relationship with God and the things that hinder that relationship and hinder the work of God. I’m asking you do you want to live for God. Do you want your life to count for God. What does the judgment seat of Christ mean to you? Make sure all the water valves are open!
There’s always something to do
The last things I want to say as a conclusion. One hindrance to the work of God is the myth, or the fallacy, or the thought that there’s nothing to do. There’s always something to do.
(1 Corinthians 15:58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
(Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
(Luke 19:13) And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
I believe that the Lord Jesus has made it abundantly clear in the scriptures that he expects his people to “Get to work!” Some of you don’t like that, do you? “I just don’t like the way you say it.”
Let me tell you another thing about the camp. I think maybe a lot of people can relate to this. You show up to camp. You got your work clothes on. You’re phyched. You’re ready to work. You come it and you’re ready to go. Where’s the squirrel? Where’s the squirrel? And you look around and nothing is happening. People that have known each other all their life are having deep conversations so you can’t go there. There’s already 5 people standing around the mixer over there doing nothing so they don’t need you there. You look at this other crown in this corner of the kitchen and they’re all on their phones so they don’t need you there. So you think, “Well, there’s just nothing to do.”
So you figure, “I’ll go to service and get in on the great preaching!” So you go to the tabernacle and sit down in the back and you start looking around and you realize: Man there is nobody from Concord sitting in this service but Brother Randy up on pulpit area. You are the only person from Concord sitting on your rump doing nothing. So that’s it. You’re going home. There’s nothing to do here. Even if there was, they don’t want me to help anyway.
This is tough for me. I have an identity crisis every camp meeting because I cannot stand to just do nothing. This is how I was raised. Back in Texas, at the shop, this is just how we worked. Nobody put their hands in their pockets. That was just not tolerated. You couldn’t sit down to work. There was no stopping to talk. You looked busy at all times. And that’s how me and the boys work. I used to tell Phillip when he was younger, Move with purpose. Look like you’re doing something. So I’ve always thought myself to be good at staying busy, helping, getting in there and just getting to work.
Well, even in my upbringing, I’ve found it difficult at times to find something to do during camp meeting, that’s camp meeting related. It’s very tempting to just give up. But I’ll say this: If you stick around long enough and look hard enough, you’ll find that there’s always something to do. And just because the person in charge doesn’t have something for you, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. It just means they got other things on their mind and can’t think of something for you to do.
If you go ask Mrs. Millie, You got something for me to do? And she says, uh… uh… maybe… uh… That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. It means you need to wait a little longer and look harder. There’s always something to do. The bible says (Ephesians 2:10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. If you say that, “There is no place for me in the work of God. There’s just nothing for me to do.” Then you are calling God a liar. The bible says that God cannot lie. He said there are good works that you should walk in. He said occupy until he comes. He said don’t be weary in well doing. He said to be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Amen?
Jesus said this: (Luke 2:49) Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?