Randall Caselman
Bella VistaChurch of Christ
04/05/2020 A.M.
Perseverance– Keep-On-Keeping-On – Never Give Up
James 1.2-4& 12 1 Peter 1.6-9
This morning we want to talk about... Perseverance...Keeping-On-Keeping-On... Not giving up.
We’re living in a time that calls for... Persistent...patient... Perseverance.
• Are we worried?... Yes!
• Are we anxious?... Yes!
• Are we afraid?... Yes!
• Are we uncertain about tomorrow?... Certainly so!
But we must go on... Be patient... And notgive up
Perseverance means…
• To persist…
• To endure…
• To maintain…
• To never give up in spite of the difficulties, inspite of the obstacles place before us.
Webster uses such words as…
• Steadfastness…
• Persistence…
• Continuance…
• Determination…
• Grit…
• Tenacity.
The Bible has a lot to say about our subject…
Jesus speaks of Perseverance in Luke 9.62... No one who puts his hand to the plow andlooks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.
In Matthew 10.22... Jesus indicates... Hewho stands firm to the end willbe saved.
Ephesians chapter six tells us to put on thewhole armor of God… Then admonishes us to standfirm… Keep Alert with allperseverance.
Hebrews 12.1... Since we’re surrounded by such a great cloud ofwitnesses... Let us throw off everything that hinders... And the sin that soeasily entangles... And let us run withperseverance the race marked out for us.
James 1.25... The man who looks intently into the perfect law thatgives freedom... And continues to dothis... PERSEVERES... Not forgetting what he has heard... But doingit... He will be blessed in what he does.
Revelation 2.10… Youwill suffer persecution... Befaithful... even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown oflife.
When I think of Biblical Perseverance… I think of Caleb…At age 85 he was still FAITHFUL inHis service to the Lord.
Reminds us of Polycarp… A disciple of the ApostleJohn… Who at age 86 was quoted as saying, “Eighty and six years have I servedHim and He has done me no wrong… How can I blaspheme my King who saved me.”This statement was made as they lit the fires taking his life for NOT ACKNOWLEDGING CAESAR AS LORD AND KING.
Then there were those faithful UNTO AND UNTIL DEATH in Hebrews chapter eleven…
• Enoch…
• Noah…
• Abraham…
• Isaac…
• Jacob…
• Moses…
• The Prophets…
The Hebrews’ Writer says… Time would fail me to mentionthem all.
Note with me church...
Five things that have to do with Perseverance...
Five things that must come together for us to be perseverant...Ready?...
First… Perseverance demands... Hardships... TRIALS… Troubles...
Perseverance is from the Latin… Literally meaning… Through severity.
We need to remember this… There can be NO PERSEVERANCE unless there is the SEVER… SUFFERING… TRIALS… DIFFICULT TIMES.
Look at the word… The SEVER must be presentor else our word has no meaning.
Perseverance is our maintaining faithfulness intime of difficulty.
Perseverance is keeping-on-keeping-on regardless ofwhat might be happening to us... With us... around us.
Second Timothy3.12… HasPaul saying, Everyone…That’s you and me… Everyone who will livea godly life in Christ Jesus will sufferpersecution.
1 Peter 1.7 tells us thatour faith is proved genuine when we are… faithful… Perseverant… in fiery trials.
James says… Blessed is the man who maintains undertrials… He’ll gain the crown of life.
Secondly… Perseverancedemands TRUTH.
Perseveranceis holding on to truth.
Forus as Children of God... If we don’t have truth, there’s nothing Topersevere in… To be faithful to.
• When obeyed… Truth sets us free fromsin…
• Truth sanctifies us…
• When we walk in the light of truth, wehave fellowship with God and one another...
Asthe blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins.
Church...Truth always set us free. For instance in our situation with Covid-19… Truthwill help set us free… While rumor and innuendo are our enemy.
There must be trust.
• Perseverance in trusting God…
• Perseverance is keepingour eyes on Jesus…
• Perseverance is NOT BECOMING WEARY IN DOING GOOD…
• Perseverance is allowing God to... guide us...Empower us…Protectus...
• Perseverance is resting in the assurancethat Godis with us in our suffering.
Faithfulness isa component of Perseverance.
FirstCorinthians 4.2... Inour King James... It is required instewardship, that a man be found faithful.
The Hebrews’Writerinsists that... Without such faith andfaithfulness it is impossible to please God.
1 Timothy 6.12 promises that ifwe will... Fight the good fight of thefaith. We can take hold of the eternal life.
Revelation 2.10 has Jesuspromising the Stephanos crown… Thevictor’s Crown of Life... for those faithfulunto death.
TIMEis a necessary component ofperseverance.
Thevery idea of Perseverance… Keeping-on-keeping-on needs time to be whatit is.
Timeis what perseverance is all about… Without time there is...
• No such thing as perseverance...
• No such thing as… Faithful unto and until death.
Look at the word… There can be no per-sever-ance unless we experience the SEVERE… Unless weexperience… Hardship... Tests… trials… Troubles… Suffering…It’s a part of our definition.
I believe Edgar A. Guest said it well in hispoem... The Few...
The easy roadsare crowded...
And the levelroads are jammed...
The pleasantlittle rivers...
With thedrifting folks are crammed.
But yonder!...Where it’s rocky...
Where you get abetter view...
You’ll find theranks are thinning...
And thetravelers… There are few.
Where thegoing’s smooth and pleasant...
You’ll alwaysfine the throng....
For mankind...More’s the pity...
Seem to like todrift along.
But the steepsthat call for courage...
And the taskthat’s hard to do...
In the endresult in glory...
For thenever-wavering few.
Indeed… PerseveranceDemands…
• Faithfulness…
• Persistence…
• Enduring hardship...
• Not giving up…
Regardless of the difficulties placed before us.
Again... Let us take comfort in a couple ofScriptures...
James 1.2-4 & 12... Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you knowthat the testing of your faith developsperseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lackinganything. Blessed is the man whoperseveres under trial... Because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God haspromised to those who love Him.
Listen to Peter... In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may havehad to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith... of greater worth thangold... which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine andmay result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though youhave not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, youbelieve in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for youare receiving the goal of your faith,the salvation of your souls.
Well… There can be no doubt that… God desires we be perseverant.
Whatdoes that look like? What does it take to become such a people & person?
First… Know thatthere will be failures.
• Noah got drunk and exposed himself tohis three sons…
• Abraham gave his wife to another manto save his own hide…
• Jacob was a liar and a cheat…
• Moses committed murder…
• David… Adultery and Murder… Firstdegree… Premeditated Murder…
• Peter denied Jesus…
• Paul says… He was the worst of sinners.
Listenchurch… We will fail in our trying to be faithful to the Lord…
But…But… Failureis not the end… John tells us we can erase our failures and have afresh start… A new beginning… If we will acknowledge, confess our sins, God is faithfuland just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness
Secondly…We must not live in the PAST.
Lookingback, focusing on our past failures Or our past accomplishmentsis a sure way to kill perseverance... It did for Lot’s wife...And it will for us.
How do we know if we are living in and with our past sinfailures?... When…
• Anger…
• Resentment…
• Hate…
• Regret…
• Guilt…
• Shame…
Still play in our mind.
HearPaul!!… This onething I do….. This ONE thing I do…. Forgettingwhat is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win theprize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.
Wemust continually… MOVE forward… GROW SPIRITUALLY...
Paul said… I PRESS ON towardthe goal…
Peter said ADD… ADD to yourfaith virtue… knowledge… To knowledge self-control… steadfastness… Godliness… brotherlykindness… and to brotherly kindness love.
Then he tells us these must be EVER-INCREASING. We are to cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit wholives within us.
Not only must we notbackslide… WE MUST NOT STAND STILL.
Galatians 6.9 tells us... Letus not become weary in doing good, for we will reap a harvest if we don’t giveup.
Here it is church... Genuine Christianity has us Trapped…Trapped in the current moment… AndGod demands faithfulness in the moment… thismoment... Right now… Today is the day of salvation... Now is the acceptabletime.
Numberfour… GODprovides STRENGTH for our perseverance.
Listen… Believe in… Apply… These Scriptures…
Ephesians3.20… Now to him who isable to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Hebrews13.20-21… Maythe God of peace equip you witheverything good for doing his will, andmay he work in us what is pleasing to Him.
Philippians 1.6… Be confident of this… That he whobegan a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day ofChrist Jesus.
George Lansing Taylor tells us... how to persevere... How to endure...our tests... trials... our remolding fires... with his advice... Dare to do right...
Dare to do right!... Dare to be true!
Youhave a work that no other can do....
Doit... So bravely... So kindly... So well
Angelswill hasten the story to tell.
Dare to do right!... Dare To be true!
God...Who created you... Cares for you... too...
He treasuresthe tears… That His striving ones shed....
Countsand protects every hair of your head.
Dare to do right!... Dare to be true!
Keepthe great judgment seat always in view...
Lookat your work as you’ll look at it then...
Scannedby... Jehovah... the angels... and men.
Dare to do right!... Dare to be true!
Prayerfully...Lovingly... Firmly... Pursue...
Thepath by Apostles and Martyrs once trod...
Thepath of the just... To the City of God.
Indeed church... God desires we become a people and person of PatientPerseverance... And we do that best by daring to do right... Daring tobe true.
Praywith me...
Father God… We approach your throne in the name of YourSon Jesus...
Our hope is in You… We acknowledge Your… Omnipotent…Transcendent… Sovereign… Nature.
We lift our prayers to You for our Health Care People… Those whoare fighting this global battle.
We pray for every individual affected… That You will…
• ease their suffering…
• enable theirrecovery...
• Give us all PatientPerseverance.
Father we pray for…
• Everyone who has testedpositive…
• Everyone who is on a ventilator…
• Everyone who has lost aloved one or friend.
We pray for our governmental officials…
• Protect them…
• Give them wisdom.
We pray for our… Preachers…. Pastors… Chaplains... Priests… Andevery Ministry leader… as they serve others.
We ask you Lord to…
• Give us patientperseverance…
• Renew our strength and ourhope…
• Enhance our faith…
• Strengthen our resolve...
• Give us a revival in thisweary time.
Father God... Please bless our time to together thismorning... Amen.