The Power of Endurance
** Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5xinW0F4wM
Today I’d like to look at something that will help us to gain greater power so that we can be more efficient for God’s greater purpose.
To do so, I’d like to use the Apostle Paul’s admonition of his protégé, Timothy, to whom Paul is also somewhat of a surrogate father. He tells Timothy to use his life, that is, Paul’s, as a living example.
“But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra--what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.” (2 Timothy 3:10-11 NKJV)
Earlier to the church in Corinth, Paul describes how he bore in his body the marks of ministry, marks from his patient endurance through times of troubles, hardships, and difficulties (2 Corinthians 6:4-5).
In fact, he later lists them out in how five times he was whipped within an inch of his life, three times he was beaten with rods, and once he was stoned and left for dead. He was shipwrecked three times, imprisoned on many occasions, and no matter what he did, and where he went, his life was in peril from both the Jews and the Gentiles (2 Corinthians 11:22-27).
And so, I think I am safe in saying that endurance is one quality that God uses. Therefore, it is something that we should hold on to and never give up, even though things are not going our way.
And the reason I say this is because we spend the entirety of our lives trying to avoid adversities. But what the Bible tells us is that it is through such adversities that God develops this quality of endurance.
“We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance (endurance); and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4 NKJV)
Today, however, endurance is an endangered quality because we live in an era of instant gratification. This is seen in that we demand immediately things that it took people, a generation ago, a lifetime to achieve. We demand overnight success, growth, solutions, and spiritual maturity. And if these are not met, we have a strong tendency to quit. We quit our jobs, education, relationship, ministries as well as even giving up on God: all because we lack endurance.
And while we have bursts of energy, it’s not enough. That’s why we need endurance because endurance turns vision into reality.
Before we move on and look at how to develop endurance, I’d like to illustrate our need for endurance with that of a battering ram. A battering ram was a weapon used to break down and weaken the protective gates of a city. It was an effective weapon, and while didn’t work fast, it did work.
It is such a weapon that Satan uses against us to wear us down. In the last day, it says that the Antichrist will “wear out the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:25b KJV).
This battering ram is a continual assault against our faith in God and in His word, not to mention our morals, families, and finances. And over time our defenses begin to wear down, which is why we need to continually put on the Armor of God, renewing our faith and commitment through times of prayer, reading God’s word, fellowship with other believers, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Only then can we withstand Satan’s continual barrage.
And so, for us to gain the needed endurance, we have to develop it. So, what are some things we can learn in our time together to help us develop endurance?
Embrace God’s Purpose
To endure, there’s got to be a reason why. And the reason I say that is because people can endure great hardships if they know there’s a purpose behind them. And the Bible tells us that God has a purpose beyond our problems.
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7 NKJV)
We all have difficulties and problems, but God’s purpose in them is to test and mature our faith.
In Romans 8:28 it says that God will work all things, including the really bad things, to our good. And what this is saying is that God’s purpose behind our problems is far greater than whatever the problems may be.
The Apostle James said, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NKJV)
Now, this isn’t saying that we are to rejoice because we’re having a hard time, but rather we are to rejoice in the knowledge that through them our faith is maturing through our endurance.
Prepare Our Hearts
In His parable of the soils Jesus tells the story of a farmer who goes out into his field to sow or scatter the seed for a future harvest. But in the process, some of the seed fell on the roadway where birds snatched it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and while it quickly sprang up, at the first wind they blew away because they had no root in the soil. Another group of seeds found their way into soil that also had weeds, and they both grew together, but it didn’t take long for the weeds to choke the life out of that which sprang from the seeds. But the seed that fell on the ground that had been prepared to accept it, a bountiful harvest comes.
Now, Jesus tells us that the seed represents God’s word, and the different types of soils represented the condition of the human heart. Now, while there’s a lot to say about this parable, and whole sermons and sermon series have developed from it, for our purposes I’d like to concentrate on the second type of soil, the rocky soil, and the fourth type of soil, the soil that had been properly prepared to accept the seed.
Of the rocky soil Jesus said that those who hear God’s word are happy to receive it, but “They have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.” (Mark 4:17 NKJV)
Now, look at what Jesus said about those whose hearts were prepared to receive.
“These are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:20 NKJV)
The difference is in the preparation. Unless a heart has been prepared to receive God’s word, then our faith will not endure to the end, but instead it will blow away in the first storm of life that comes our way.
How can we properly prepare our hearts to be fruitful in what we do?
Be Filled With The Holy Spirit
Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NKJV)
Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16 NKJV)
To endure the storms that come our way, storms that want to knock us off our feet, we need to walk in the Spirit, and this can only take place when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. And this filling and walk begins when we come into faith in Jesus Christ, and then on a daily basis asking the Holy Spirit to fill us.
Of the Holy Spirit Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.” (John 14:16 NKJV)
Bring Our Prayers To God
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)
We are in constant need of help throughout this life, and to endure we need God’s grace and mercy to help us get through, and these are only found at God’s throne of grace. Now, to boldly come and receive His grace and mercy is through our times of prayer, because that word, “boldly,” means with all speech, that is, prayer, talking with God about what we are going through.
Be In God’s Word
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)
Saying that the Bible is “profitable,” Paul says that it is useful, beneficial, and advantageous for our lives in teaching what is true, reproving what isn’t, along with correcting and instructing us on how to get and stay right with God.
In other words, God word is powerful and helps keep us on the straight and narrow, or as the Bible says, on the narrow road leading to eternal life.
Focus on Jesus
If we want to be depressed, we just need to look at all the junk that is going on in the world, and then add on top of that the depravity and inhumanity of man. But when we focus on Jesus, then we’ll have rest from all of it.
And I guess this is what it all boils down to, and that is we can either look at our problems and be depressed, or we can look at the solution and be encouraged, and Jesus is the solution. Maybe to say this another way, the more we look at the problems, the larger they become. But the more we look at Jesus, the smaller the problems become.
The writer of Hebrews tells it like this.
“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a NKJV)
The only way that we can endure is to daily keep Jesus and what He did for us on the cross clearly in focus. The writer goes on to say that Jesus endured the cross by looking beyond the cross and to what God was doing in His plan of salvation.
We will endure, in much the same way, as we look beyond the problems and see God’s plan of salvation, that is, what Jesus did for us upon the cross, and paying the penalty price due for our sins.
Rely On God’s Power
Going back to our signature verse that Paul speaks into Timothy’s life about following the example that He set through his teaching and life, Paul said that the only way this was possible was through God.
“And out of them all the Lord delivered me.” (2 Timothy 3:11b NKJV)
If we’re going to endure through life’s difficulties and problems, we’re going to need God power.
Paul says this very thing to the church in Colossae.
“Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.” (Colossians 1:10-11 NKJV)
There’s a popular quote that says, “We will never know that God is all we need until God is all have.”
Again, I’d like to go to Paul’s instruction to Timothy.
“For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12 NKJV)
When things look their bleakest, that is when God works the best, and that’s because we’ve come to the end of ourselves, which is then the beginning of God.
We all have burdens to carry, and while we may not fully understand them, we don’t have to continue to carry them. Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NKJV)
We are not alone in this life. Jesus is with us; in fact, He has never left us. So, now is not the time to quit, rather it is the time to continue, to carry on, to endure and come out of the shadows and be all that God has designed us to be.
And this leads us to our last point.
Expect God to Bless
We need to expect God to bless us, and with such an expectation we will be able to endure the tough times. Maybe to say this another way, never doubt in the dark what God has promised in the light. What are God’s promises?
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12 NKJV)
And then there is what Paul told to Timothy.
“If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” (2 Timothy 2:12a NKJV)
Can you see the benefits of endurance?
Conclusion
Endurance is one of the qualities that God wants us to grow in, so that we can fulfill His purpose, not only for our lives, but for His kingdom. Let me end then with this last promise given through the writer of Hebrews.
“For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (Hebrews 10:36 NKJV)
And so, when we take seriously the word and promises of God and endure through all that the world and Satan throws at us, then we’ll see God’s purposes come alive in our hearts, in our lives, and in our ministries.
