5. Spiritual Disciplines Series
May 17th, 2009
Perseverance
A man is traveling down a long dirt road when he meets a guru. The man asks the guru, "Which way is success?" The bearded sage did not say anything but pointed to a place off in the distance. The man was thrilled by the prospect of quick and easy success, so he rushed off in the appropriate direction. Suddenly, there was a loud "Splat!!!" Eventually, the man limped back, tattered and stunned, assuming he must have misinterpreted the message. He repeated his question to the guru, who again pointed silently in the same direction. The man obediently walked off once more. This time the splat is deafening, and when the man crawled back, he was bloody, broken, tattered, and irate. "I asked you which way is success," he screamed at the guru. "I followed your direction. And all I got was splatted! No more of this pointing! Answer me!" Finally the guru spoke: "Success is that way. Just past the splat." The man would have reached his desired goal if he had pressed on through the trials.
What a great lesson. Success comes through perseverance. Consider this: there was a man whose life was characterized by failure. At the age of 22 his business failed. At 23 he ran for Legislature but was defeated. So he turned to another business which failed when he was 24. At 25 things started to turn around when he was elected to Legislature but at 26 his love died. He had a nervous breakdown at 27 was defeated in his run for speaker at 29. He was defeated at 31 when he ran for elector, he lost in his run for congress at 34 but then managed to win at 37. He was defeated in his reelection for congress in 39, he was defeated in his run for senate at 46, he was defeated in his run for vice president at 47, he was defeated for his run for senate at 49. This man was stubborn as a mule but not a winning mule. He was defeated over and over and over again until at the age of 51 he was elected president of the United States. In fact he would become one of the greatest presidents in our country’s history. He is Abraham Lincoln. He endured through the hardships, the trials, the defeats, the rejections, and the failures. Until one day he became our commander in chief. That is the power of perseverance. It is vital for success. It is important in our daily lives. More significantly it is essential for our Spiritual lives. We need perseverance but how do we do that? Where do we find the strength to carry on through hard times?
Perseverance is an important part of our Spiritual lives. Being that we are told to expect hardships and persecution as a result of our relationship with Christ we need to be ready. We were not promised this life would be easy we are promised hardships. Life has storms. The Christian life isn’t about a blissful problem free existence but a better way of living in relationship with God. A relationship does not mean anything unless it endures trials and hardships. A few years ago I had a good friend. I considered him to be one of my best friends. We spent a lot of time together. We shared some good times. I thought that he would be one of the friends I would have for the rest of my life. Then we hit a small bump in the road and lost touch. Our friendship had been tossed out over some pretty insignificant issues. When hardships came along the friendship went away and I learned that it wasn’t the friendship I had thought it was because it couldn’t endure. It didn’t have the strength to carry on through hard times.
If you look at happy, healthy marriages what you are likely to find is not that these people managed to avoid all trials in their lives or even that they experienced less hardships than most. What you will likely find is that they were committed to enduring no matter what. The strength and love that you see is a result of them undergoing hard times together and making it through to the other side. God doesn’t desire a petty shallow relationship with us. He wants intimacy. He wants unity. For that to occur we have to be committed to turn to Him in the hard times. To stay true in our relationship with Him no matter life throws at us. Just as a relationship with a person means very little if it cannot survive trials so to a relationship with God means very little if it cannot endure hardships. Where do we find the strength to carry on through hard times?
In 2 Timothy 4 Paul writes:
2Ti 3:10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 2Ti 3:11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 2Ti 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Have you ever heard the story of Paul? Not his conversion story we have heard of how Paul’s ministry began. Have you ever heard the story of how Paul’s ministry came to and end? I want to tell you a story about the life of an amazing man. Paul has lived a glorious life. He has stood on Parthenon in Athens and debated with the leading intellectuals of his day. He has been to the media and trade center of the world in Corinth. He had been to Ephesus, the religious capital of the world, he had been to Jerusalem where the temple of God was built and in all of these places he planted a church. In a radical transformation where Paul encounter Christ he had gone from persecuting the church, to planting churches. He had been through every extreme, including floggings, ship wrecks, imprisonment, and beatings. He had been chased out of town. His life had been threatened. His own family had sworn an oath to kill him. He had endured all the extremes of life. He was one of the dominant leaders in the early church. He wrote over 2/3 of the New Testament. He wasn’t just a name he was the name. Paul was the man to be. Few can boast to have had a more successful career than Paul. He had traveled by land and sea all over the known world preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had seen converts and brought many to a relationship with God. Of all the men in history few have had the impact on the world that Paul did. His passion and zeal helped spread the gospel like wildfire in the ancient world. Now Paul’s circumstances were changing.
Paul was coming off a long and fruitful ministry in the province of Asia. He and his colleagues had spent the winter of 56-57 AD in Corinth before sailing to Jerusalem. Whatever his goal was in heading to Jerusalem his mission did not go as planned. It was in Jerusalem that some old enemies caught up with Paul and brought up false charges against him. He was taken into custody by the Romans and sent to Caesarea to stand trial before the procurator Felix where he was detained for two years. Finally Paul exercised the right of a Roman citizen to appeal his case before Caesar. He was sent to Rome where he was kept under house arrest for two years until his case was brought before the supreme court. While we cannot be sure there is good evidence to support that Paul was acquitted at this time which would have likely been around 62 AD. Tradition would then indicate that Paul was later arrested again and subject to a more extreme imprisonment and trial in which there would be no acquittal.
This is the setting in which Paul writes 2 Timothy. If we look at 1 Timothy we see that many of Paul’s concerns have reappeared here in this second letter but they now have a far greater sense of urgency. This is one of Paul’s last letters. The year is about 65-66 AD, which is only a year or so before Paul is killed. The only time Paul will leave this prison is to walk the Ostian Way to where he is beheaded. So Paul writes near the end of his life this last letter to Timothy. Paul found Timothy when he was a young boy probably about 16 years old. Timothy would travel with Paul as he preached the Gospel all over the world. Paul and Timothy had been through a lot together. In 1 Timothy Paul had encouraged Timothy to stay in Ephesus and keep doing the Lord’s work. But seeing that his end is near Paul greatly desires to see his son again. So he asks Timothy to come.
The picture that we get of Paul is something similar to an old war hero. In his prime he had been a great warrior. Men and women would sing his praises and crowds would gather around him wherever he went. He had been the pinnacle of fame but old age gets the better of the best of us. So we have this old man all alone. Most of his followers have moved on or forgotten about him. The excitement of the crowds cheering had faded, the lights have gone out. All that is left from the glory days of Paul’s life is the fleeting memory of an old man. His vision is starting to fade as he is beginning to go blind and he is lonely. For all the things Paul did and all the lives he impacted near the end he is alone. Many of his friends and fellow workers have deserted him. What he really wants now is just to see Timothy one more time. So he writes:
2Ti 4:9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 2Ti 4:10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 2Ti 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 2Ti 4:12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 2Ti 4:13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
Paul is cold, he is alone, and he is looking for something to hold onto. At the end of his life he wants to see something he accomplished. So he looks to one of his last standing disciples, Timothy. Timothy is very Paul’s protégé and Paul is giving Timothy his last few lessons before his time is up.
2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2Ti 4:4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2Ti 4:5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2Ti 4:6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 2Ti 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2Ti 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Can you imagine? We often see Paul as this super man who was never affected by anything but that is not the case. Paul is no different from anyone of us. He gets lonely, sad, and he wants to know that his life meant something. He may have had no idea just how much God would use his ministry in the years to come. Paul endured so much. The impact that he had on the world was a result of his perseverance. Paul endured great opposition, suffering, hardship, and trials. He experienced the worst things this life can offer and he did so without ever giving up. Paul had something to hold onto. We see it in verses 7 and 8. He fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith, and now he was ready for his crown of righteousness. Paul endured so much and remained faithful because Paul found the strength to persevere. Where do we find the strength to persevere through hardships? The same place Paul did: the kingdom of God.
Paul lived this life for the next one. He endured what came here and pressed on so he could get to reward there. As a runner must focus on the prize at the end of the race to push through the pain that comes along the way so we ought to focus our eyes on the prize. We ought to focus ourselves on the kingdom of God the life we will have with Him. For when we God, when we realize the riches that await us in our life with Him then we find all the strength that we need to endure whatever the world throws at us. I tell you this: whatever pain you feel. Whatever hardships come your way, whatever difficulties you face, or heartaches you feel, whatever happens in this life one thing we know: it is temporary. All that pain and suffering is but a fleeting moment compared to the prize that awaits at the end of the race. We must not grow weary and lose heart because life can be hard. We must focus on things to come so that we may find the strength to endure.
