"ENDURANCE!"
Matthew 24:9-13
It reminds me of the story told of a mother who held her three year old on her lap and informed him that he would soon be a big bother. She said that he could push the baby's carriage, hold the baby's bottle, and help by bringing her diapers. The lad wriggled out of his mother's lap and with his hands on his hips, said seriously, "What are YOU going to be doing while I do all the work?" Does that sound familiar mothers?
Sometimes you might feel that way. You become exhausted with trying. But mothers are not the only ones who become exhausted with trying. At some point in our lives, we all fit that pattern. You become exhausted from trying to reach goals that ellude you. You become to weary to care and you reach a point where quitting looks good. It looks real good. There is a word that thunders throughout God's Word and that word is endure. Endure! Endure! Press on! Endure. Don't quit. Keep trying.
I want you to understand something....that every person in this sanctuary has a problem. There is not one person in this room that is problem free. And we all suffer from the common disease that we think our problem is the worse problem until we find out about somebody elses problem.
Two people were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, she was very hard of hearing and the husband felt he wanted to express his love and affection. And so with all the family and friends gathering around he toasted her by saying, "My dear wife, after 50 years I've found you tried and true.". She said "What?" Putting her hand to her ear. "My dear wife, after 50 years I've found you tried and true." She said, "I didn't hear you" So he shouted, "My dear wife, after 50 years I've found you tried and true." She said, "Well, let me tell you something, after 50 years I'm tired of you too."
There are those of you in this room who for one reason or another are discouraged. There is one word in this book that the Lord would speak to you today and that word is endure, endure, endure. I am saying to you this day that God's grace is sufficient for every trial. Perhaps you have been struggling to make your dream come true and you're tired and exhausted and you reached the point where your frustrations have compounded and quitting looks good. I want to say to you this day, don't do it. Don't do it, you are a child of the King. And the victory of the Lord is your inheritance. And I want you to press on with new faith and new confidence. There is no mountain to high that you cannot climb it, no valley too deep, for the Lord is just as much the Lord of the valley as He is the Lord of the mountain top.
Read with me please Matthew 24:13; "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." again, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." I want you to hear the word today, endure and let the Holy Spirit burn it your memory so in the trial in which you find yourself, and in the crisis that is just a phone call away, you'll be able to hold your head up high because you were too tough to quit, you endured until the victory came through the strength that Christ gave you.
Father, in the blessed name of the Lord Jesus, thank you for those who are here today and may the Holy Spirit help us to receive this word, endure till the end, that we may have heaven's best. That our lives may be transformed, that our fondest dreams may be realized and that we can stand in the winner's circle with the Lord Jesus Christ and by His infinite grace...in Jesus name we pray...and all God's children said...Amen.
What is endurance? Endurance is the determination to stay with it longer than your competition...just a little bit longer than the problem itself.
You do not have to be the best to succeed. You do not have to be the biggest to win. All you have to do to prevail in any crisis is just refuse to quit. No one is ever defeated until they accept defeat inwardly and in their heart. I want you to hear this....You're not through in your life, not spiritually, not professionally or any other way until God says you're through. And if you want quit, God won't quit and He will give you absolute victory. I promise you that on the authority of God's Word. One day a little bull dog came down the alley, snorting and shuffling and growling and he looked at those two bird dogs on the other side of that chain link fence and he crawled under the fence, and Dr. Criswell's friend said,"I knew there was going to be a big fight." He said his first thought was to take those bird dogs into the basement so they wouldn't hurt that little bull dog, but decided to let nature take its course because he wouldn't be there every day.
He said those 3 dogs went together in the wildest fight you ever saw. After about 5 minutes that little bull dog squeezed under the fence and went home. The rest of the day he licked his wounds and laid in the sun and the next day at the same time the littled bull dog came back down the alley snorting and pawing the ground, he squeezed under the fence and went after those bird dogs one more time. And around and around they went, biting and scratching, and hair flying. Once again he got the stuffings whipped out of him. Went under the fence and home to lick his wounds and lay in the sun.
The third day down the alley he came, snorting and pawing the ground, under the fence he comes, he fought those bird dogs one more time and one more time he got whipped. Under the fence he went, home to lick his wounds and lay in the sun. That man said, every day, same time, same station that little bull dog came down the alley pawing and snorting, under the fence he came and went to war with those two bird dogs.
He never missed a day. Same time, same place, same results. But he said a strange thing happened, after 2 weeks of that, that those bird dogs when they heard him coming down the alley, snorting and pawing the ground would run into the basement and start whining and hiding. He wasn't the biggest and he wasn't the best, but he was the winner. He said that he would prance in the backyard with his head up and he was just pawing the ground, looking over he shoulder at those 2 dogs because he had whipped them. It took him a while, but he whipped them.
That's what endurance is. You may not be the best, you may not be the biggest, but if you'll stay at it long enough, you'll get to where God wants you to go. It is enduring that mounts the victory.
The point is, you don't have to be the biggest to win, you don't have to be the best equipped to win, if you are just to tough to quit, you are guarenteed the victory through the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no crisis that you are facing. There is no problem that you are about to endure but that the strength of the Lord will not sustain you.
And in due course He will give you heaven's answer and it will be a delightful answer that will bless your life forever. A man said the other day that he had reached the end of his rope and I said, "Tie a knot in it and hang on." Just hang in there, don't get whipped. Don't get whipped in your mind or in your heart or in your emotions.
History and the Bible are filled with men who tried and tried again. Who failed and then tried. Moses tried to deliver Israel when he was the crowned prince by killing the Egyptian. He failed, he fled to the backside of the wilderness for 40 years.
Then in the burning bush God said it is time for you to try again. I want you to go back to where you failed. I want you to go back to where you are not loved and not appreciated and right there I want to show you how powerful My success can be through you. And Moses went and you know the story. Because he went back and tried again he experienced heaven's best answer.
Samson, who experienced awsome defeat at the hands of Delilah in his last days tried again and won more victories for God in his last day then he did in all his other days.
Jesus Christ in Gethsemane, when He was sweating great drops of blood experienced God's trying again. God tried in the Book of Genesis with Adam and Eve, He tried through the prophets, He tried through the kings. And finally He sent His only begotten Son into the world. I want you to hear this, "It is God desire for you to win." It is God's intention for you to be more than conquorers thru Christ Jesus. You are the sons and daughters of the most high God. And victory is a part of your heritage. You are created a little lower than the angels and the royal blood of heaven flows in your viens.
It was never God's intention for you to live in defeat. God doesn't make junk, you are a champion of the cross, God intends for you to stand in the winner's circle and be victorious in Christ Jesus. So therefore, CONQUORER in the power of His name.
You cannot reach the winner's circle unless you are ready to try again. Satan is terrified of God's children who are willing to try again. He is not terrified of any body who mounts his pity pot and starts saying, "I'm in the circumstances I'm in because of my mother and my father, or the church or the government or somebody else. He is not afraid of a pity-pot mentality.
But he is afraid of a child of God who knows how to come back and try again. Know how to stand firm. When Satan comes to you and says you can't win, you take the Word of God and put it right under his nose and say, "We're more than conquerors through Christ our Lord, who has strenghened us." When he comes to you and says, "I have you totally intemidated by fear, say, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind and I am not going to be intemindated by fear." "I can do all things through Christ who is my strength." When Satan comes to you and says you are alone and are forsakened, say, "Lo, I am with thee always, even until the ends of the earth."
Make Satan sad he ever tangled with you. Make him like those bird dogs who ran for the basement when the bull dog came under the fence. The Bible says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Say that with me, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." and he does not like the Word of God. When comes to you and begins to try you, you turn to the Word of God and drive him back. He'll recognize that you are a child of God and will give up. Jesus is our example. Hebrews 12:2 says, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross..."
When satan comes to you and reminds you of your past sins, say, "All of my sins have been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. They are washed and I am whiter than snow.
The cross is a battle ground, He engaged the forces of hell and He came forth a champion. Jesus said, "there is a joy in enduring." There is a joy in beating the problem. There is a joy in putting your hand in the hand of God and walking through the valley of the shadow of death. When Jesus came forth from the grave He didn't say, RUN I never knew it was going to be like this. He said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" "Be of Good Cheer, Be of Good Cheer."
"BE of good cheer, for I am the Lord thy God, cheer up for I am He that was dead and now I am alive and I give to you eternal life." And that's enough to make you want to endure till the end. Paul said in 2 Tim. 2:3, "Therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Do what, endure. Don't say, "If I feel led, I'll do so and so" "I'm going to go with the flow if I feel good"
The Bible says, "Fight the good fight of faith." There comes a time in your life that if you're going to get where you've got to go, you've got to get tired of coming in second. James 5:11 says, "Behold I count them happy which endure." If you are going to survive, you are going to have to decided you are going to. Never give in. Never surrender to a lesser goal. Never surrender to a lesser dream. Never give in to a lesser vision than the one God has for you. Press on till you get heaven's best. Because that's God's desire for you. God will not fail you if you will not quite.
Every race is not won in the first lap. It is not how fast you start, or even how fast you run, it is how well you endure. You may be the fastest on qualifying day. You may set on the pole, but if you do not endure, you'll not win the race. Not every ball game is won in the 9th inning, or the 4th quarter. There is no future in any job, the future belongs to the man who holds the job. Don't worry about the job you don't like, someone else will soon have it. The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without it. Don't fall into the trap of always starting and never finishing.
I've known people whose lives were one beginning after another. They never finish, they are always beginning. They are thrilled about a new start. Let me tell you something. Any time you ever start something, regardless of what it is, you are going to cry over it and struggle with it before it produces anything of any benefit. Nothing of any value comes to you for nothing.
Endurance is sustained when God gives you a vision and a goal for your life. Let me ask you something. What is the vision that God has given you for your business, for your marriage, for your education. I want you to hear this, God is trying to do something through you every day that you get up. Dreams that God gives are specific, and not general. Dreams are personal and not public. If you share your dream, they will either laugh at you or generally resent you.
Look at Joseph when he shared his dream with his brothers, when God show him the other 11 brothers bowing down to him. They did not say, "Oh, what a spirit filled brother we have." They threw him into a well and started to plot to kill him. The point is, if you think people are going to get excited about your dream, forget it. We need dreams from God. You need a dream, I need a dream.
I have a dream for this church, that every member will be a soul winning member. That we all become evangelist in this town and county. That every member becomes obedient to the Word of God as we read it every day. Every member giving of his time and his substance to the kingdom of God.
I'm asking the Lord to give us a legion of leaders in this church. I want to see a supernatural revival break out in this town to the place where the name of the Lord is glorified. To where He is acknowleged as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
There is no reason that out of this church with the intercessory prayer warriors that we have that a ministry can go out to all points of not only the county, but the state and the nation and the world, proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, "That's too big a vision." No it's not. The Bible says, "Go you into all the world and preach the gospel" and the world doesn't stop with Hendricks County. I want you to say today, "What is it that God wants to do with my life?"
What vision does He want to give me? What is it that He would like for me to accomplish. Then I want you to set your teeth on it like a bull dog and go for it. Until you stand in the winners circle knowing that God has given you the goal and the victory, and it is by His strength that all is done. Endure, endure, endure, endure.
Christianity is not ducking out on life. Christianity is not ducking out on responsibility. Christianity is putting your hand in God's hand and climbing the highest hill and whipping the biggest giant with God's help and doing it with joy, that is unspeakable and full of glory. That's Christianity. If your heart is breaking, just don't give up. Don't give in to your emotions. Don't give in to the herd instinct around you saying, "You'll never get there."
My father use to say if he could find ten people in a row that said it couldn't be done, he was on to something. There is a lot of truth in that. In conclusion. Some of you here today are seriously considering running away from reality. Running away from life. Running from responsibility. Running from a dream that God has given you. Runing from your marriage, family relationships, from a career, from educational persuits, and you say I can't do it.
Today in the name of Jesus Christ I want you to stand up to it, I want you to face your problem, I want you to give up your right to quit, Quitting is unthinkable. You are a child of God, endure it, press on. The victory will come, don't give in. Don't give in.
Jesus said to the Father, "Not my will, but Thine be done." When His followers laid Jesus in the tomb it look like the darkest day in history. But there has to be a crucifixion before there can be a resurrection. You are the sons and daughters of the King. I want you to hear this. You are the sons and daughters of the King of the universe. Jesus Christ. And He has said that if you will not surrender, I will not. Greater is He that is in you then he that is in the world. There may be some that were on track for the Lord, and for what ever the reason you find yourself slipping away. I'm telling you that today is the day to go back and say, "Father, I want to be in fellowship with you, I'm going to carry the cross, I'm going to endure." And when You come I'm going to be in the fromt trenches fighting with all of my might, not retreating."
You are royal, I'm looking at royalty. "They that endure till the end, the same will be saved." Give up the idea of quitting, give up the idea of running. If you've got a crisis in your home, on the job, in school, put your hand in the hand of the Lord and say "In Jesus' name, I'm going to whip this problem and I'm going to stand in the winner's circle, because they that endure till the end, will be saved, and I'm not going to quit. Can we stand. I want you to bow your head and pray this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus Christ, I lay my whole life before you today, you know exactly what I feel, and You know exactly why I feel this way, and I ask you Lord Jesus, to give me new strength, give me joy that comes from the well of the salvation of God, Lord Jesus, let me feel your nearness, this week I want to sense Your presense, help me to defeat the giants that I am facing, and to stand in the winner's circle, with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, You are my Lord and I am your servant, and I ask you today, for Your peace, and Your strength, that I may endure till the end, in Jesus name, Amen
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