Just over a hundred & 30 years ago, artist Vincent Van Gogh was feeling rejected and forgotten so he shot himself. He left behind hundreds of drawings and paintings no one wanted or so he though. He believed that he was a total failure as an artist. The artist lived his entire life in poverty and sold only one painting. By about 1885, he had developed the techniques that would mark his genius. Thinking that he should get away from Paris, Vincent moved to the south of France. In seventy days, he executed seventy paintings, most of them of the highest quality. Then he entered the period of mental and emotional distress that resulted in his shooting himself with a borrowed revolver on July 29, 1890 at 37 years old. Today he is one of the most famous artists in the world. In 1990 a paintings sold for $148.6 million and 1998 over $82 million dollars in Europe.

You can image if he returned to the world today that he would be shocked to learn that his genius was acknowledged and to find himself a famous artist whose total wealth would be in the billions of dollars. But during his own time, he never received from others any inkling of his talents. Vincent van Gogh was totally ignored, forgotten by everyone during his lifetime.

Folks, we are not promised reward here in this life but hereafter. Until then we are to labor for the Lord and trust God for our heavenly rewards.

Last time: My outline was three questions:

I. Do You know you should Labor for the Lord?

II. Do You know what is your Labor for the Lord?

III. Do you make excuses not laboring for the Lord?

III. Do you make excuses for not Laboring for the Lord?

1. Many Christians live with the feeling that they are not appreciated, and forgotten by God. So, they drop-out. That is just one of the many excuses but it is a big one and it weakens the church.

I don’t think we realize how important being functional in our faith is.  The Christian church at large lacks the presence of gen x and gen z in their memberships. Folks, it’s an 80% drop from boomers to gen x in almost every church. We see declining spirituality all across the West and a rapid departure from the faith. Satanists are operating completely in the open. I heard just last week my son Anthony mentioned a coworker got on his work camera with a very large pentagram proudly presented behind him. Anti-Semitism is right now the loudest most recent evil perpetrated by Satan and his cohorts and they are systematically gaining positions of power. We must organize and oppose what is coming at these grass roots existential threats against Christianity. But how can we? When we cannot even get Christians to see how important being functional in our faith at church is. 

2. There have been millions of people who have served the Lord” – the majority of them are unknown people that history didn’t remember. God does not forget those that labor in His vineyard and his army. Sometimes our fear that God forgot our work and labor of love comes from relying on the attention and applause of people. It is true that some people may forget your work and labor of love, but God never will.

3. We should be encouraged that our Father sees all we do and labor for Him not for earthly and fleshly awards. Read with me Matthew 6:1-5.

We must remember that the good works we do are for the sake of Christ, not for the praise offered by others. Maybe everybody else has forgotten the service you have given, the sacrifice you have made and the hours you invested. But God has not! Our feelings may be hurt and our hearts broken. But God has promise he will never forget.

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Hebrews 6:10

4. God requires no other proof of the good we have done. He will never forget. He is a righteous God who will reward us someday accordingly and we will reap. Galatians 6:9- And let us not be weary in well doing…What other excuses are you using to hold out on your reasonable labor for the Lord. I think another great excuse is focusing too much on what others are doing or not doing. So, …

IV. Do you make the biggest Excuse? John 21 :18-21

1. Well so and so isn’t doing anything why should I? Jesus addressed that excuse when he was telling Peter what type of ministry he would have and what type of death he would suffer in verses John 21:18. It was a sacred moment in Peter’s life, as the Lord pulled back the curtain of time to his future. His was not to be an easy life but a life ordained and blessed by his Lord. Peter is going to confess Christ and die for Him. Peter who last time had a chance to confess Jesus but blew it?

2. Notice in John 21:19 it says that his death would glorify God. How? Because anybody who dies for their faith in Jesus Christ it is a glory to God. I’ve often thought that what God cannot accomplish in life, He’ll accomplish in death.

3. Rather than responding to what Jesus told him, Peter turned around at his fellow disciple. Peter asked, ‘But Lord, what about him?” Peter had just been given his assignment but he compared his assignment with that of John. Peter made a mistake here. It says, “Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them.” Peter’s mistake here is that he “turned.” Peter said, “Well what about John? Is he going to die as well?” Jesus replies in effect, “Don’t you worry about John… you worry about Peter. The way you care about Peter is keeping your eyes focused on me.

4. In this passage Jesus is basically saying to Peter – “what is it to you what I do with John” “Peter I wasn’t talking to John, John will have his own work, I was talking to you!” Peter, if I want John to live until the Rapture, that’s none of your business. And then He uses the emphatic Greek, “You follow Me.”

Now you don’t even need to use all those words because they’re implied in the Greek verb “follow” that means to follow one who proceeds. “Peter, get your eyes off of everybody else. The years haven’t changed people much, have they? People today still get overly concerned about what someone else in the church isn’t doing. So often we spend our time thinking or talking about how so-and-so needs to change or how so-and-so’s need to get busy.

5. They still look over their shoulder and say “Hey, what about him or her…” You may say – “my ministry is so hard compared to others, why do I have to do the hard work or the dirty work.”

Our text suggests that in the ordering of Divine Providence, we are born with varying characters and gifts, and are assigned to different works for God in the church. Thus, there is a plan for each one God calls into His service. Therefore we should not look at other and create divisions. —I Co.12:25.

Peter was called to follow the Lord in the place where he could best serve Him. In his case, this would result in his martyrdom at an old age. How simple the directive was: “Follow me.”-

Jesus assigned Peter and John to walk two different paths. Jesus knew how dangerous it is when a servant takes his eyes off the master to focus on a fellow servant. Where is your focus?

Conclusion: If you struggle to be a servant, your heart may have shifted away from the heart of God. Ask Jesus to unveil your gift and teach you selflessness and to give you the strength to follow His example.