Endurance

And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake:
but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 10:22

What does it mean to endure?

Recently, Bro Gregory and I joked about having to ‘endure’ listening to a college choir.  It wasn’t that they were not talented, but it was more so the choices of songs they were singing…or rather, the noises they were putting to music.  But that’s not the type of “enduring” that this passage of Scripture is talking about.

Strong’s defines it as:
          to stay under (behind), i.e. remain
          figuratively, to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude (meaning to have
                  courage in pain or adversity), persevere
          **also translated in the Bible as: abide, endure, (take) patiently, suffer

Google dictionary defined “endure” as meaning to:
          Suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently

From these definitions we can see that endurance is accompanied by suffering.

In our Christian walk, we ARE going to suffer! Therefore, we need to learn to endure.

Psalm 34:19 reads…

Many are the afflictions of the Righteous:
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

That word afflictions means: bad or evil, calamity, distresses, wickedness, wrong. The righteous are going to face people doing wicked and evil things to them.  The righteous are even going to be done wrong.
MANY are the afflictions (the evil, the bad, the wickedness, the wrong) that the righteous will have to put up with.
But the Lord WILL deliver (i.e. defend, preserve, rescue) him out of them ALL.

Building endurance is not easy.  It comes from suffering.

An athlete does not start out running a marathon or playing in the Big Leagues. That athlete has to work up to it.  They have to build up their endurance level.

The fastest man in the world is a Jamaican sprinter named Usain Bolt.  He’s won many gold medals while competing in the World Olympics. 

In the summer of 2012, he won the men’s 100-meter race when he ran it in 9.63 seconds, which was a new Olympic record, making him the first man in history to set 3 world records in Olympic competition. 

Usain Bolt did have speed that came naturally.  But that alone is not what brought him to the place of gaining the title as 11-time world champion.  

He didn’t get to that place overnight.  It took time and it took training.  He had to build up his endurance so he could run for long stretches at a time.

It wasn’t easy either.  He gained injuries along with his medals.  At one point he pulled a hamstring which took him out of the competitions for a while until it healed.  He didn’t let the injury keep him down. 

He took time to heal, but his desire to win the race drove him to do everything he could to get back in the race.  He had his eyes on the prize. Eventually, he was able to run another marathon, winning the race once again despite lightning striking just as he crossed the finish line.  He didn’t let anything stop him – not even lightning!

I am not a sports fan, I don’t follow sports figures, nor am I promoting it, but there are some things we can learn in our Christian walk from these athletes.   Even Apostle Paul compared our Christian race with that of an athlete…

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,
but one receiveth the prize?
So run, that ye may obtain.

And every man that striveth for the mastery
is temperate (has learned self restraint) in all things.
No they do it to obtain a corruptible crown,
but we an incorruptible.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly:
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:
lest that by any means, when I have preached to others,
I myself should be a castaway.

Paul realized the importance of endurance.
Paul knew what it meant to suffer.

2 Corinthians 11:23-28

Are they minister of Christ? (I speak as a fool)
I am more: in labours more abundant,
in stripes above measure,
in prisons more frequent,
in deaths oft,
Of the Jews five times received I 40 stripes save one,
(that’s 195 stripes he received in his life)
Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned,
thrice I suffered shipwreck,
a night and a day I have been in the deep.
In journeyings often,
in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers,
in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen,
in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea,
in perils among false brethren;
In weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst,
in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without,
that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches.

He had also written to the Corinthian church in a previous letter concerning his sufferings.

1 Corinthians 4:11-13

Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst,
and are naked, and are buffeted,
and have no certain dwelling place:
and labour, working with our hands:
being reviled, we bless’
being persecuted, we suffer it.
Being defamed, we intreat:
we are made as the filth of the world,
and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

Sounds unbelievable that one person could go through all those things. Paul may have been questioned about the validity of his claims because he went on to let them know he wasn’t lying when he said he’s endured all these things (2 Cor 11:31).  

He knew what it was like to suffer!

But no matter what we go through, NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ if we endure….

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things
WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS
through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ!
The only thing that can separate us from God is our willful sins (Isaiah 59:2) without shame or repentance.

Our sufferings can actually draw us closer to Jesus…if we allow it. If we keep our eyes on Him.  If we draw near to Him in our sufferings and endure.

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed) spirit.

That word ‘saveth’ means: to be safe, avenge, defend, deliver, get victory.

The Lord draws close to those whose hearts are broken just as a parent draws near to comfort a sobbing child. 

The Scripture continues to assure us that He is going to defend and avenge and bring victory for those whose spirit has been crushed by life’s blows.

But we have to endure.

Paul comforted himself and others with these words concerning suffering in 

Romans 8:18….

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The sufferings that we go through are working something in us and God will be glorified through us…if we keep our eyes on the prize and continue to endure.

In living for Jesus, you will suffer.

Remember our subject text – Mt 10:22, “You will be hated of ALL men for My name’s sake…”

We’re not suffering in the same way that those in China or the Middle East are suffering.  They are being brutally massacred for the Name of Jesus.

We are so blessed here in America to have the freedoms that we have, but those freedoms are slowly being eroded away. 

Our persecutions here in America come more so from family and friends.

Sometimes family can be our biggest persecutors, but keep living the life for Jesus no matter what they do or say.

They’re watching more than you realize.  And while they may oppose your life right now, the life you live will be a witness before them and could cause them to turn to Jesus. 

There was a man I knew many years ago.  He antagonized his wife about going to Church but he would take her anyway because she was handicapped.  He’d bring her TO church but he would never come inside.  She had a lady come teach Bible studies at her home.  He didn’t leave but he’d either fall asleep or pretend to be asleep every time. 

His wife eventually passed away but it can be said of her that she endured to the end. She never was able to see him step foot in the Church doors but he finally did one day.  And, praise God, I can report that he repented of his sins, was baptized in the name of Jesus, and received the Precious gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues!  Last time I saw him, he was still going to Church and living for Jesus.

Bro Gregory tells about a man in Kentucky (Bro Bill) who used to persecute and abuse his wife for going to church.  But eventually, he too came to Church and God saved him because his wife endured and lived a life that was a witness before him.

No one likes to suffer but suffering is what builds endurance.

Just as an athlete has to push past the ‘burn’ in the muscles and the weariness.  It is those things that help them to be able to endure long races.

When we keep pressing on, walking with Jesus, keeping our eyes on the prize more than the pain we’re going through, we’re building endurance.

When you’re suffering, know that God is trying to develop something in you and make you into a vessel of honor for His glory.

Have you ever stopped to realize where gems come from and what they’ve gone through to become what they are?  They come from dark places…under the ground and deep down within caves. 

When you go through dark times and feel like everything is caving in on you…like you are being buried alive…just remember God is forming you into a beautiful gem.

Do you know how diamonds are formed?  They are formed through intense heat and pressure?  They are then brought to the surface by deep source volcanic eruptions (i.e. more fire, more heat, more pressure).

When you’re under pressure, ENDURE!  Stand fast!  And Hold On! 

It may be that God is trying to make a diamond out of you.

There is a promise for those who endure and are partakers of sufferings…

2 Corinthians 1:7

And our hope of you is steadfast,
knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings,
so shall ye be also of the consolation.

Our consolation is that one day we’ll hear Jesus say, “well done, thou good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Mt 25:21)

Our goal is to make heaven our home but we have a made up mind to live for Jesus no matter what. 

It is he that endureth to the end that shall be saved.  (Matthew 10:22)