SEVEN SUPPLEMENTS TO YOUR
FAITH- PART IV
Perseverance pays off in the end! II Peter 1:1-7
Floyd and Sally
McClung are an American couple who have pioneered Missions movements around the
world. They were involved in Kabul, Afghanistan
reaching hippies way back in the 1970’s.
From Kabul they moved to Amsterdam where they pioneered YWAM and
ministered there for many years. Floyd
is a well-known Christian leader and the author of several books. Wilma and I
have met the McClungs a few times during our time in YWAM.
In
their late sixties they moved to Cape town, South Africa from where they were
training and sending missionaries to unreached people groups in the 10/40
window. Two years ago, Floyd woke up in the middle of the night with unbearable
pain in his leg, he was rushed to the hospital, was in critical condition for
several weeks and in a coma.
Wilma
has been following Sally’s blog over the past two years. In the initial weeks and months much, fervent
prayer was raised for a miracle of healing for Floyd. After months of prayer
without seeing the miraculous healing, Sally asked people to pray for a miracle
of either healing or heaven for Floyd.
Two years have passed and Floyd has never regained his speech or
mobility. In the meantime, Sally has had two bouts of cancer and is undergoing
treatment.
We
don’t always understand why God’s children struggle, and at times their prayers
go unanswered. But one thing we know by reading the McClung’s blog is that through
it all Sally has continued to choose to
trust the Lord and put one foot in front of the other. Her testimony is that in the midst of this
great trail she keeps finding joy and the faithfulness of God. We have been following a series titled, “Seven Supplements
to Your Faith,” based on the second letter of the Apostle Peter. 2 Peter 1: 5-7
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to,
Self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” We have
learned that God supplies faith to us freely.
By His grace and through our faith in Christ alone we are
saved. Faith in Christ is not an end in itself, but just the beginning. The
Apostle Peter encouraged the early Christians to supplement to their faith, goodness,
to goodness, knowledge and to knowledge self-control.
We looked at these three supplements more in depth in the
past weeks. Today we will look at another supplement we all need, that is the
supplement of perseverance, (steadfastness, long suffering or endurance).
How do we understand perseverance? What does the Bible say about
perseverance? In a society where there is so much emphasis on comfort, instant
gratification and least tolerance to pain and suffering, how can we cultivate
perseverance?
I. UNDERSTANDING PERSEVERANCE
Charles Spurgeon,
speaking of perseverance, notes. “By perseverance the snail reached the Ark.”
All the other animals were much faster on their feet than the snail, they all
reached the ark much quicker. The only one left behind was the snail. The snail
had to carry some extra weight on its head. It slowly made its way to the Ark. God
was patient, He did not shut the door until the snail reached the Ark, because
the Ark wouldn’t sail without the snail.
As I read various definitions, I came to understand
perseverance as: Being steadfast in doing the right thing despite difficulty or
delay in achieving success. It is continued effort to do or achieve something
despite failure, or opposition. It is the attitude as Charlie brown would say,
never, ever, ever give up. It is the virtue that can endure, not with a
fatalistic resignation but with a vibrant hope in God.
Perseverance is the supplement we all need when going gets
tough, when things are beyond our control and we feel like giving up. Here is a
biblical example of someone who persevered under great trials, yet did not give
up His trust and confidence in God.
II. A BIBLICAL MODEL OF PERSEVERANCE
When we talk about perseverance in the OT who comes to our
mind? Job! The name Job is derived from the Hebrew word for “persecution.” thus
meaning, “persecuted one.” Job was a very wealthy man of his time. He was God
fearing, did what right in the sight of God, and a well-respected man in the
society. All of a sudden Job lost everything. He lost seven of his sons, and
three of his daughters all in one day. His wealth was gone, he was
stricken with an incurable disease, sores from head to the toe, all over his
body. His own friends couldn't recognize him. He had to put up with mockery of
his townspeople and the hypocrisy of his friends. All this happened just
because God and Satan wanted to prove a point. Job became their target.
At this point you may be tempted to shout it is just not
fair! Yes, you are right! many things in life are not fair, but how do we
respond in those unfair circumstances? Listen
to Job’s response to adversity and to the vitriolic advice from his own wife.
Job 1:20-21, “Then Job arose and tore his
robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said,
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave,
and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Let’s pause and think, how would we respond to adversity in
life? Job’s first response was one of “worship.”
Secondly, he recognized all he had including his own life was
from God, therefore God had every right to take it away whenever He wanted. Normally,
when people go through calamities, they raise their fist against God and curse
Him, whereas Job never once cursed God, instead he blessed the name of the
Lord. Job’s own wife deserted him. “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still
hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as
one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall
we not receive evil or disaster?” In all this Job did not sin with his
lips. Job 2:9-10
Lessons from Job’s life. First, there are matters going on
right now in heaven with God that believers know nothing about; yet they affect
their lives. Second, all our best efforts to explain away pain and suffering
can be useless. Third, we don’t know why, but God’s people do suffer. Bad
things do happen all the time to good people. Fourth, we cannot judge a
person’s spirituality by his or her painful circumstances or apparent wealth
and success.
Fifth, even though God seems far away, perseverance in
faith is a good virtue to cultivate, since God is still good, all of the time
we can safely entrust our live into His loving hands. Sixth, suffering is not
an end in itself, it is the beginning of a glorious end, if we don’t give up.
Finally, we can learn that a believer in the midst of suffering should not
abandon God, but draw near to him, if he remains steadfast, God will bless him
in the end.
Why
are we talking about Job today? He is a prime example of how to face adversity
yet not to deny our faith in God. It is important we study Job’s life because
God testified of him later, the prophets quoted him, the apostle Paul made
references from the book of Job and also James the brother of Jesus, reminded
his audience of Job’s stand in the midst of suffering. James 5:10-11, “Brothers
and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the
prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed
those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen
what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
How can we cultivate this highly difficult yet very rewarding supplement of
perseverance in our day to day lives?
III.
CULTIVATING PERSEVERANCE
In the
passage we read the Apostle Peter, encourages believers to “make every effort
to add to their faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge,
self-control; and to,
Self-control, perseverance...but he did not tell them how, because he dealt with the how part in,
Self-control, perseverance...but he did not tell them how, because he dealt with the how part in,
I Peter 4:12-19. Here Peter draws some parallels between
their suffering with the suffering of Christ and the suffering of the rest of
the believers in the world. Peter explains four attitudes are necessary in
cultivating perseverance. First, Vs, 12, “Beloved do not be surprised at the
very trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were
happening to you.” It is an attitude of expectation. When we expect that
we would go through suffering when we commit our lives to Jesus, then we won’t
be surprised. Unfortunately, the prosperity gospel doesn’t deal rightly with
suffering.
Second, Vs 13-14, “But rejoice insofar as you share
Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit
of glory and of God rests upon you.” It is an attitude of rejoicing. When
we go through suffering of any kind let’s rejoice in the fact that Christ’s
glory is revealed in us through our suffering. Third, Vs 15-18 talks about an
attitude of evaluation. We need to learn to evaluate the cause of our
suffering. Are we suffering because we have done something wrong and we deserve
it? Or Are we suffering because we are suffering as a Christian and we bear the
name of Christ.
Fourth, Vs
19, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls
to a faithful Creator while doing good.” This is an attitude of entrusting
our lives to God. It is to say God, I don’t understand why I am going
through this suffering, but I entrust my life to you. Let your will be done, give me strength to go through this
trial. We learn from scriptures that we must persevere under trials and
perseverance must complete its course. James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and
sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that
the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let
perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking
anything.”
Dear friend, are you tired and weary of fighting various
battles of health, finances, debilitating habits and so on? God is the one who
gives and He is also the one who takes, blessed be the name of the Lord. Do not
quit! Stand strong! Persevere! God understands what you are going through and
he will not let you suffer beyond your ability. I Corinthians 10: 13, “No
temptation (trial) has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God
is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when
you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
Christ
is our only hope in the midst of suffering. He is standing right here next to
you through his Holy Spirit. He wants to hold you up tightly so that you won’t
slip and fall. I don’t know what burdens you brought with you when you came to
church this morning, but I want you to leave this place knowing full well that our
redeemer lives!
In closing, here are the assuring words coming from the
Apostle Paul who endured much suffering in his life. My prayer is that they
will give us hope when we go through our share of suffering in life. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by
such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and
the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the
pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God. Consider
him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary
and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3. Amen
