I take as our subject today, the call in Scripture to persevere—to steadfastly continue in the faith no matter what happens.. Some of you have walked with the Lord for many years. You have fought some battles. You have not done it perfectly, but you have continued to follow the Lord. You have endured hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.i And the Lord commends anyone who does that! Jesus said to the church in Ephesus: “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name” (Rev. 3:8).ii They had been faithful to the Lord. They had continued in the faith. They had held to the word of the Lord. They had not denied His name. And the Lord set an open door before them. They didn’t have to have a lot of strength for the Lord to give them new opportunities. They had a little strength, and the Lord honored their faithfulness.
Paul was a great evangelist. He brought the gospel to unchurched people. He led many people to the Lord. But his ministry did not stop there. He understood the necessity of perseverance. He knew the Great Commission was to not only lead people to Christ, but to also establish them in the faith. Our mandate is to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). We are to led people to Christ. But then we are to disciple them. We are to teach them to live according to the commandments of the Lord.
Therefore, we find passages in Scripture like Acts 13:43: “Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.” That is an interesting phrase: “continue in the grace of God.” Doesn’t that happen automatically in Christians? Why would a minister need to persuade Christians to “continue in the grace of God”? Why would Jude tell Christians to “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21)? Why would Peter tell believers to be “diligent to make your call and election sure”? Do we have any part in that? Apparently, there is something we are responsible to do, or the exhortation would be meaningless.iii All these passages call believers to “continue in the faith.”
In Acts 14:21-23 we have this account concerning Paul and Barnabas: “And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’” I doubt that message was any more popular then than it is today. People don’t want to hear they may experience tribulation. Most want to hear about God making their path easy. They want to hear about health and wealth. But by telling these believers the truth, Paul and Barnabas were strengthening them in the faith. They were equipping them to deal with persecution and hardship.
I want to address our subject today under two headings. First, we will consider the temptation to not continue in the faith: the temptation to draw back, turn back, let up, or neglect this great salvation. Then we will explore the means by which we do continue in the faith.
I. TEMPATATION TO NOT CONTINUE IN THE FAITH.
That temptation would not be there if God were a permissive, indulgent father. If He did not chasten and correct us; if there were no cross for the believer to bear; if discipleship did not involve some trials and tribulation, then we might continue in order to just get our fleshly desires and ambitions fulfilled.iv But authentic Christianity is not an exercise in self-indulgence. It requires self-denial and disciple. It includes opposition from the flesh, the world, and the devil. There are battles to fight and temptations to resist. Therefore, in exhorting Christians to “continue in the faith,” Paul acknowledged, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
That tribulation separates sincere followers of Christ from half-hearted people who are in it for the loaves and fishes—in it for the fulfilment of their own fleshly desires.v The wheat and tares grow up together in the visible church.vi But there are times when God shakes the church, and in that shaking reveals people’s true motives. The year 2020 has been a time of shaking for governments, businesses, and churches. The church closings due to the pandemic has tested our resolve to “continue in the faith.”
A study conducted at the end of September examined churches that had resumed in-person services after the coronavirus shut down. The research found that only 36% of the pre-Covid attendance levels were back in church.vii Back in May when in-person services were not being held, about one-third of those who had attended church prior to the pandemic shut down were not streaming any services.viii The disruption has taken a toll on church attendance. Change is challenging. And we must set our face like a flint to press into the kingdom of God no matter what the obstacles are. If it is technologically challenging, “continue in the faith,” anyway. If others drop out, “continue in the faith,” anyway. If governments oppose it, “continue in the faith,” anyway.
When Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he encountered all kinds of difficulties and opposition. The Samaritans in that area opposed them. Nehemiah and those with him were ridiculed and criticized. They had to stay on guard against the enemy. The work was difficult. They became exhausted during the course of the project (Neh. 4:10). Yet they continued and eventually finished the wall. Were the difficulties a sign from God that they were out of the will of God? No, the opposition occurred because they were in the will of God. Doing God’s will does not necessarily mean it will be easy.
Examine Paul’s ministry and you will see what he meant when he said, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” All the apostles fulfilled their ministries in the midst of persecution and opposition. Doing the right thing does not guarantee and easy path. Having God with you does not guarantee smooth sailing. What it does provide is strength for every occasion (Phil. 4:13).
The admonition to “continue in the faith” runs all through the New Testament. When Jesus sent the twelve out in ministry, He told them they would be hated and persecuted. He then added, “But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22).
I cannot tell you that being a Christian in America will get easier. There are signs that it may get harder. We already have state and local governments violating the first amendment freedom of religion clause. There are churches in California right now fighting for the right to assemble and worship God. There are powerful people who hate Christianity and hate you because you are a Christian. Are we committed enough as Christians to “continue in the faith” whatever they throw at us? We have had it very easy in America. There are Christians in other parts of the world suffering martyrdom because of their faith. What would it take to get you to renounce your faith in Christ? I hope there is nothing that could ever persuade us to do that.ix
To “continue in the faith” is a condition for salvation. There are two systems of theological thought in Protestant Christianity: Calvinism and Arminianism. Calvinists believe that once a person is born again, he can never be eternally lost. Arminians believe that it is possible for a regenerated person to turn from the faith and be eternally lost. But neither system believes that a person who does not endure to the end will be saved. The Arminian points to passages like Hebrews 6 and 10 to support their view of apostasy. Calvinists point to passages like Matthew 7:22-23 and 1 John 2:19 to identify those who fall away as mere professors of the faith. Their doctrine of the perseverance of the saints contends that anyone who is truly born again will persevere in their commitment to follow Christ. It is an ongoing debate because both situations are addressed in Scripture.
But the point I’m making is this. If a person does not “continue in the faith” an Arminian would say that he backslid and lost his salvation. The Calvinist would say he was never really a Christian to begin with. Neither system would say that he is going to heaven. Both would acknowledge he is lost.x They just give a different explanation of the situation. To think that a person can make a profession of faith, then turn from the Lord and live in iniquity, and ultimately be saved is contrary to both theological systems. That’s why it is important to make your calling and election sure.xi That why Paul told the Corinthians to “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5).xii That’s why he told the church at Rome, “For if God did not spare the natural branches [speaking of the Jews], He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Rom. 11:21-22). If is a significant two-letter word that often gets ignored: “if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.” Continuing in God’s goodness, continuing in the faith is expected of believers. It’s expected whether the times are easy or hard.
II. MEANS BY WHICH WE DO CONTINUE IN THE FAITH.
We will now consider a few key elements in this continuing process.
(1) Continue in doing good.
In Galatian 6:7-10 Paul wrote, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” The exhortation here is to “not grow weary while doing good.” The NLT says, “So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up.”xiii
There will be times when you will feel like you’re carrying more than your fair share of the load. There will be times when you don’t feel appreciated. There will be times when you do good toward people, and in turn they mistreat you. Don’t become weary in well doing when those things happen. Just keep doing what is right no matter what. Do it as unto the Lord and let Him reward you.xiv The promise, the word of encouragement, here is that “in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” If we don’t quit, if we don’t get discouraged and give up, we will reap a harvest from the good we are doing. “Therefore, my beloved brethren,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
In Luke 12 Jesus gave a parable about being prepared for His coming. He talked about the honor and blessing that would be given to any servant whom the master found faithful at His return. But in verse 45 He added, “But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”
The work God gives you is not always exciting. Sometimes you just persist in doing good. “By perseverance,” Spurgeon once said, “the snail reached the Ark.”xv Sometimes you just plod on. Sometimes you just keep serving because you know it is the right thing to do.xvi
The work is sometimes turbulent and difficult. Sometimes the waters are rough, and you just keep rowing. You hang in there although you may feel like you’re not doing much more than that. This little poem gives a vivid picture of what I’m talking about. It is entitled, “Made of the Right Stuff.”
“A little brown cork fell in the path of a whale
who lashed it down with his angry tail.
But in spite if its blows it quickly arose,
And floated serenely before his nose.
Said the cork the whale: 'You may flap and sputter and frown,
But you never, never, can keep me down:
For I’m made of the right stuff
That is buoyant enough
To float instead of drown.”xvii
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (KJV).
(2) We should also continue in prayer.
Colossians 4:2: “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” Many other passages encourage us toward a consistent prayer life. Remember the story Jesus told about the widow and the unjust judge. The judge in this story was not a godly man. The widow was desperate and ask him to hear her case. The judge refused. She kept coming back asking him to give her justice from her adversary. The judge continued to refuse her request. Finally, through her persistence she wore him down and he granted her request. He did it not because he was interested in justice for her, but because she persisted in her request. Jesus stated the point of the story in Luke 18:7-8. “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” The contrast between the ungodly judge and a loving, just God emphasizes the certainty that God will answer our prayers. But we must continue in prayer. We must continue to exercise faith even when the answer seems to be delayed.
Are there situations you have prayed about for a long time; yet you still don’t see the answer? Keep on praying. Are there loved ones that you’re asking God to work in their hearts? Keep believing for an answer. “One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller's funeral the last one was saved.”xviii It may not happen today. It may take a while. But when you’re praying for a person’s salvation, you are praying in the will of God. According to 2 Peter 3:9 God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
We should keep praying for our nation, even though we may not be seeing all the answers we would like to see. We should continue praying for just and honest election results. We should continue asking God for righteous leadership in this country. We should continue praying for the Georgia senate runoff elections.
We should continue praying for the American church. We should not stop praying for revival in the land. God honors persistent prayer because the persistence is a demonstration of our confidence in Him to hear and answer.
(3) We must continue in the word. Jesus said to those people in John 8:31 who believed in Him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples” (RSV). The NIV says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” And the NLT says, “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.” The word of God is an essential source of strength and counsel for persevering in our walk with God.xix
To “continue in the faith” requires continuing in the word. That’s our anchor in a society that is tossing out every wind of doctrine imaginable. The popular cult known as “Progressive Christianity” considers all the doctrines of the faith antiquated and passe. They define love by their own standards of tolerance; then justify setting aside the word of God based on that love. Once people set aside the word of God as authoritative revelation of God’s standards, then anything goes. They can rationalize every kind of sexual perversion. They can even rationalize the murder of innocent babies.
The Bible warns of a great falling away in the last days. People will depart from the faith. To depart from something you had to be in it. Paul told Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:2-4). To “continue in the faith” our ears and our hearts must stay open to the truth. “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” They will not put up with correction. They will find teachers who tell them what they want to hear. It will be the blind leading the blind, and they will think it is a good thing. They will think it is good because they are no longer disturbed by the word of God. They are hearing smooth things that make them feel good. Whether it is the truth or not is beside the point, as far as they are concerned. It gives them good vibes and good feelings, and that’s what they’re after.
Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” The problem with deception is you don’t know you’re deceived. You’re convinced the others are wrong and you’re right. How do you sort that all out? How do we guard against such deception. We must accept the word of God as the final referee on what is true. Otherwise one opinion is as good as another.
What did Paul tell Timothy to do about that problem of deception? Later in the chapter he says,
“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:13-16). Notice the prominence of doctrine in that instruction. Paul tells Timothy to give attention to doctrine. He tells him to take heed to the doctrine and continue in the doctrine. We don’t need new doctrines so we can call ourselves “progressive.” Salvation is found in the doctrine already given to us in Scripture.xx Of course, the real help only comes when we, not only hear it, but also apply it to their lives.
The church is in a significant time of transition. Nobody knows exactly what it will look like when all the dust is settled. But we do know some essentials that must not be compromised. Acts 2:42 gives us four pillars that must be guarded in the life of the church. It characterized the early church after the Holy Spirit was poured out. It characterized a highly effective church that turned the world upside down with the gospel. Whatever happens continue in these four mandates. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine [not some progressive substitute] and fellowship [edifying and encouraging one another in the faith], in the breaking of bread [the Lord’s Supper],xxi and in prayers.”
When the church neglects these essentials, it grows weak and compromised. When leaders substitute other activities and minimize these, they are deceiving themselves. The substitutes may yield some temporal results in terms of money and numbers. But real success is found in faithfully doing these four activities. The early church “continued steadfastly” in these, and so must we. However else we may need to adapt to changing times and environment, we must continue steadfastly in (1) the apostles’ doctrine (2) fellowship (3) the breaking of bread (4) and in prayers.
My assignment today is to commend you for your persistent commitment to the Lord. Additionally, I encourage to continue in well doing. I encourage you to “continue in the faith.” I encourage you to remain steadfast and not neglect this great salvation.xxii God is faithful to us. May we in the strength of the Holy Spirit remain faithful to Him.
ENDNOTES:
i Cf. 2 Tim. 2:3.
ii All Scripture quotes, unless indicated otherwise, are from the New King James Version.
iii 1 Peter. 1:10, In verses 5-9 Paul has listed qualities Christians are to diligently work at adding to their character. Of course, this is only possible because the grace of God is at work in the believer. But the apostles use this fact, not to justify passivity, but to call believers to diligent cooperation with God’s work in them. See Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Cor. 15:10.
iv Cf. Matt. 16:24; Heb. 10:38; 12:7.
v In John 6:26 Jesus confronted people who were only following Jesus for the temporal benefits they might get from Him. They did not truly believe (John 6:36). That was manifested when He confronted them with truth and they stopped following Him (John 6:60).
vi Cf. Matt. 13: 24-30.
vii “The Unstuck Church Report,” Special Edition, Q3 2020, The Unstuck Group. Accessed 12/4/20 at UCRQ32020 (blackbaud.com). Even the online viewership is 12% below the pre-Covid, in-person attendance.
viii Barna Group, “One in Three Practicing Christians Has Stopped Attending Church during COVID-19,” State of the Church, July 8. 2020. Accessed 12/4/20 at One in Three Practicing Christians Has Stopped Attending Church During COVID-19 - Barna Group.
ix The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians going through severe persecution. It was so hard that they were tempted to turn back to the Jewish rituals rather that continue in the faith. Hebrews 10:35-39 exhorts them to not cast away their confidence, to not draw back but to persist in following Christ.
x See Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019) 115-118, 381-397. Hebrews 3:12-13: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Cf. 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:21.
xi 2 Peter 1:10.
xii Paul’s caution against presumption is also taught in 1 Corinthians 10 where he says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (vs 12).
xiii The KJV says, “And let us not be weary in well doing.”
xiv Col. 3:23.
xv Paul Lee Tan, ed., Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times, 1979 (Rockville, MD: Assurance Publishers, 1985) 999.
xvi Cf. Luke 9:62.
xvii Paul Lee Tan, 951.
xviii “George Mueller, Sermon Search, from Our Daily Bread, January 13. Accessed 12/04/20 at George Mueller - Sermon Illustrations on SermonSearch.com.
xix Josh. 1:8; Ps. 119; Matt. 4:4.
xx Cf. Jude 3: “. . . I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
xxi See Ajith Fernando, Acts, The NIV Application Commentary, Terry Muck, gen. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998) 120-121.
xxii Cf. Hebrews 2:1-3.
