Labor in Hope: A Word of Encouragement in Dark Times
Note: This is the third in a series on how Christians in America need to imitate Nehemiah, who when surrounded by ruins around him, trusted God’s promises and had a heart to build. As our land is in spiritual ruins, this is a call to roll up our sleeves, spit on our hands, and build.
Nearly 230 years ago, a 30-year-old man stood before a congregation and opened his Bible and read Isaiah 54:2-3:
‘Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate nations.
This man preached a powerful sermon about how this passage promises the expanse and growth of God’s kingdom—God’s tent will be greatly enlarged and will encompass all nations. This sermon soon was called ‘A burning bush of missionary revelation’ and shone as a Gospel light to raise up laborers to be sent out into the harvest. Missionary societies were begun. Men were sent out to foreign lands to bring the Gospel to those who had never heard. The church was devoted to earnest prayer, evangelism, and discipleship. This young man summarized the message of Isaiah 54 in this way: ‘Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.’
Who was this young man? William Carey, missionary to India and is also known as the father of modern missions.
The American church needs this kind of Biblical optimism, and we need it in large doses. For the last 150 years or so, since the rise of dispensationalism, there has been a conviction in the American church of a steadily worsening world. Many do not have confidence in the advance of the Gospel. Some sound a lot like Chicken Little, ‘The sky is falling!’
This pessimism was common in Charles Spurgeon’s day, and he opposed it with all his might. In an exposition on Psalm 86:9, he wrote:
“David was not a believer in the theory that the world will grow worse and worse, and that the dispensation will wind up with general darkness, and idolatry. Earth’s sun is to go down amid tenfold night if some of our prophetic brethren are to be believed. Not so do we expect, but we look for a day when the dwellers in all lands shall learn righteousness, shall trust in the Saviour, shall worship thee alone, O God, ‘and shall glorify thy name.’ The modern notion has greatly damped the zeal of the church for missions, and the sooner it is shown to be unscriptural the better for the cause of God. It neither consorts with prophecy, honours God, nor inspires the church with ardour. Far hence be it driven.”
Now certainly, as you look at our land, it is clear that we are a nation sick with sin and under God’s judgment. We not only practice every kind of sexual perversion, but we celebrate it. We have killed 60 million babies. We are given over to covetousness, evidenced by our crushing national debt. Our civil magistrates are drunk with power and have little qualms abusing it. It may appear that the sky is indeed falling, but this is why we must walk by faith in God’s promises and not by sight.
So what has God promised?
He promised to Abraham that he would work a global salvation: ‘In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ (Genesis 12:3). This is fulfilled in the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ (see Galatians 3:14). It is in Christ that God’s promise of blessing of salvation will go not only to one nation, but to all the families of the earth: to all ethnicities, all languages, all tribes, all people groups.
In Psalm 110:1, God promises to the Messiah: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ When did God exalted his Messiah at his right hand? Upon Christ’s exaltation into heaven, when he received the highest place of honor and authority. And God promises that Jesus will remain seated until God places all his enemies under his feet. This is what God is doing *now.*
In Psalm 22, which is a prophecy of Christ’s death and resurrection, we see the fruit of the Messiah’s triumph. Vv.27-28—“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.”
In the Gospels, we read that Jesus is indeed the Promised King and he most certainly brought the Kingdom. What is the nature of the size of the kingdom? It will start very small, but its growth will be perpetual until it permeates everything and is completely global. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed (about 1mm in size), but when it is fully grown becomes a tree (a mustard plant grows up to 20 feet tall). The Kingdom of God is like leaven hid in three measures of flour, until it was leavened—the blessing of the Kingdom will permeate the whole world.
And this will all certainly happen because Christ has indeed conquered on account of his death and resurrection. Right before his death on the cross, he says, ‘Now is the judgment of the world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself’ (John 12:31-32). Jesus has conquered on the cross—over sin, death, and the Devil. And now he is drawing a great multitude from all over the world to himself.
And Jesus has not left us to ourselves, but he has given every spiritual blessing that we need for the triumph of the Great Commission. He is always present with us. He has given us his indwelling Holy Spirit. He has given us spiritual gifts for the upbuilding of the body. We have the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. We have access to God in prayer through which we can do even greater works than Jesus did (see John 14:12-14).
How can we have these glorious promises, this great salvation in Christ, and all these blessings for Kingdom advance given to us and not labor in hope? The best days for America as a present nation may not be in front of us (and certainly won’t be without repentance), but the best days of Gospel advance certainly are in front of us.
We need to put away our unbelieving pessimism which cripples us from taking action and to replace it with the bold, biblical faith of William Carey: ‘Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.’
How this faith fueled him through every difficulty!
While in India, he faced many trials. He ministered for 5 ½ years without a single convert. He faced poverty and illness. And yet his faith did not waver: “When I left England, my hope of India’s conversion was very strong; but amongst so many obstacles, it would, unless upheld by God. Well, I have God, and His Word is true. Though the superstitions of the heathen were a thousand times stronger than they are, and the example of the Europeans a thousand times worse; though I were deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my faith, fixed on that sure Word, would rise above all obstructions and overcome every trial. God’s cause will triumph.”
And again, he writes to a friend: “I would not abandon the Mission for all the fellowship and finest spheres in England…The work, to which God has set His hands, will infallibly prosper. Christ has begun to besiege this ancient and strong fortress, and will assuredly carry it.”
By time Carey died in 1834, he had lived to see 26 gospel churches planted in India, with more than 40 fellow laborers engaged in the work. He had himself translated the Scriptures or parts of them into no less than 34 languages, including six completed translations of the whole Bible and 23 of the New Testament.
Let us labor with a Gospel hope. Believe that Jesus Christ has conquered and will indeed make his blessings known as far as the curse is found. And let this give you confidence in your parenting, building up a godly household, leaving a legacy to your children’s children, serving in the church, proclaiming the Gospel, practicing hospitality, being a voice for the unborn, caring for the poor, etc.
In all the areas that God has called you to, abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain.