Persistence

Persistence
Sermon Notes – Ps. Jim White
Sunday 23rd May 2010
• Last week we had John and Julie Mellor run some healing meetings, both here and at C3 church. There were amazing healings and miracles – and as wonderful as it all was, in the days following, I wondered if the excitement and buzz of it all would settle down – but in fact, the opposite is true.

• I have spoken to a number of people who experienced God powerfully touching and healing them last weekend, and they are even more excited now than when they were in the meetings. I saw one of the ladies Tuesday morning – and she looked like a different person.

• And another lady was prayed for by those at the Friday night prayer watch, and she received a miraculous healing to her shoulder and arm. She is doing things with her arm that she hasn’t been able to do for years. On top of that, she also had her hip prayed for, which had caused a lot of pain – and that night she slept through without any pain for the first time for many years.

• But something John Mellor spoke about at his seminar – and something he displayed often as he ministered to various people – was persistence in faith.

• If people didn’t sense any obvious change in their condition, he would pray again. If there was only a small change, he would pray again. And again. And sometimes people were healed as he continued to pray and believe and make room for God.

• Persistence is a quality that is spoken about in the bible. Persistence is defined as continuing steadfast in a course of action – and get this.... especially in the face of, and in spite of opposition. It is enduring when things don’t seem to be changing or happening the way you think they should. It’s persevering. It’s to be obstinately repetitious, insistent and tenacious.

• Don’t you love that description? – obstinately repetitious, insistent and tenacious.

• What I personally took away from last weekend, was this renewed revelation – that God calls us to be persistent in our faith – but I thought – this isn’t just about healing. Persistence is something we need in our Christian walk every day.

• The true overcomers and victors in this world are not the ones who have big spurts of enthusiasm – great beginnings – spectacular starts... but they are the ones who with patient endurance and steadfast continuance – finish the race, full of faith, and with joy in their hearts.

• I can personally think of a few people right now – even in our church – who have been through some unbelievable trials, sadness, opposition, misunderstandings – and outright abuse – and in it all, they may have wavered momentarily – but they have never lost or forsaken their faith in God and His goodness towards them.

• And there are those who have come to the end of their life – ones like Helen Forrester – who have been absolute rocks in their faith – particularly in spite of tremendous opposition. We’ll talk about that a bit more later.

• Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. “...that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

• Jesus was saying in this parable – don’t lose heart – in other words, don’t become faint or give up – be persistent. God responds to persistence on the part of His children. There’s something in the pushing through – the dogged determination – it’s a reflection of our faith – and God loves it when we put our faith in action.

• But do not lose heart. Do not let your passion and faith wain – don’t stop believing, praying, standing, asking, seeking and knocking.

• Passion and persistence go together. Be passionate about God, about life, about your salvation, about the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life... Joy – passion – love – these are our strength... strength to persist.

• You’ll notice in this parable, that the widow has an adversary – an enemy – an opponent. You don’t need persistence when everything’s rosy. You need it when things are coming against you. And that can be external circumstances – or it can be an internal battle, like fear or anxiety, depression, despair...

• John Mellor prayed for people whose pain and distress was linked to unresolved emotional conditions. Sometimes our persistence is in overcoming ourselves and our inner battles.

• And it’s what God does in us as we overcome that is the real treasure and richness of our life – turning us into people of strength and courage, power and authority... because when the odds are against us, when the pressure is on, when our back is against the wall, and we choose to keep going forward, we choose to keep our eyes on Jesus, we choose to believe that God is faithful and good... that’s when we become who we are meant to be.

• Rom 5:2-4 – “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege [grace] where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance [persistence]. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”

• We see problems and trials in our life as problems and trials. God sees them as opportunities for us to develop eternal and rich qualities of persistence, strength of character – and hope. We simply want problems to go away – but God’s word would tell us that they are mountains to climb, barriers to overcome, tensions to resolve. When our hope is in our salvation and all that that means – we can do it. We can become champions in life too.

• Think of David when he faced up against Goliath. Something in him rose up – a righteous indignation and determination... But you only have to read a few of his psalms to know that David’s inner life contained many battles with things like fear, despair, insecurity, stress... You can just about open up any of David’s psalms and find yourself there – at one season or another.

• Even though David had his problems and his struggles – he was a man of persistence – and he learned how to overcome and push forward.

• What about Joshua? Joshua was the man who finally led the people of God into the promised land, after forty years of wandering in the desert. But God said to Joshua on a number of occasions – “Be strong and of good courage.”

• If we are to be persistent to the end, we are going to need strength and courage. But again, courage is only seen and manifested in the presence of conflict and struggle.

• God knew Joshua would need encouragement, because as leader of God’s people in the promised land, one of his tasks would be to drive out the people of Canaan – a people that the spies had forty years earlier described as giants – and many times in number than Israel.

• I feel God is saying to us this morning – be strong and of good courage as you steadfastly, tenaciously and obstinately persist in your journey forward.

• Joshua 1:9 – “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

• This is the key that tips the scales in your favour regardless of what opposition is coming against you, whether it’s external or internal. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

• This is your source of courage and your source of strength – the presence of God with you personally – every moment – never leaving you nor forsaking you. Christ lives in you – the hope of glory – the hope of your salvation.

• Let me highlight the main points so far – persistence – in the face of opposition – is meant to be a vital part of our makeup. Persistence grabs hold of the heart of God. Success in our Christian walk is not about how wonderful our beginning is – but how faithfully and steadfastly we continue the journey til the end.

• Persistence builds something valuable in our lives – and God Himself will encourage us and strengthen us, just as He did with Joshua. And we will be changed in the process – our character built, our hope strengthened. When the encouragement of God met with the passion of Joshua – mighty and powerful things happened.

• I just feel to say at this point, that persistence in what you know to be right – what you believe – who you understand God to be – will mean that some things may prove themselves to be not worth fighting for – not part of the bigger plan for your life – not part of the treasure that God is building in you on the inside. And some of those things may be good things – just not the wonderful, best things that God has in His heart for your life.

• As we determine what it means to seek Him first, then our true heart’s desire will be fulfilled. Don’t be discouraged if you see some things fall away that seem good – particularly if your heart is set on the best – God’s perfect plan for your life.

• Although some good things may fall away – there may some bad stuff as well – some lingering sin – that you need to make a decision to cast off.

• Heb 12:1 NLT – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance [perseverance, persistence] the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”

• I love that description of Jesus – the Champion! He’s won His race without faltering. He’s the Champion of champions.

• We are all in a marathon. It’s called life. This is no 100 metre dash. It’s not about running as fast as you can for a short distance. It’s about endurance over the long haul. There’s no point even being in the race if you aren’t going to finish it.

• And to do that, we have to strip off the weights of sin. They trip us up! Other versions say we get entangled in them.

• You even see it in people who are living for the world and for themselves – especially public figures. People whose careers and lives are devastated because they get entangled with stuff that shouldn’t be part of their life. And they don’t finish well at all. Their lives and careers are sabotaged and scarred for all time.

• How much more are the consequences for us – if we start out strong – but we get so weighed down with sin that we disqualify ourselves, and we don’t get to the finish line.

• I’ve read that there are two critical times in a marathon. The start is certainly important. But a bad start – even running too fast and using all your reserves of energy – can be devastating.

• But the other critical point is about half way. Runners at this point can hit the wall. Your endurance runs out. The thought of the distance ahead is too much. And the overwhelming temptation is to quit.

• It happens in the race of life – even the Christian race. You have a good, fast, hard run, fight a few battles, but the passion and energy runs dry. We all know people who have run out of puff spiritually, emotionally, physically. And they lose heart.

• If you don’t have heart – then it’s really a hard and difficult thing to keep running.

• But there are a couple of keys in this scripture that will help prevent that from happening.

• There’s a great cloud of witnesses. This speaks to me of the men and women of faith who have gone before us. Their testimonies shout out at us through the pages of the bible. Hebrews 11 is a sample of them.

• Noah – imagine him building an ark in the middle of the desert. They say it took him approximately 100 years to build. Imagine the ridicule of others, and even the inner battles he would have had to face to persist and persevere to complete that project. And yet, what he accomplished was the salvation of his family.

• Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joseph... Imagine the battles Joseph faced – being thrown in a pit by his brothers – then sold into slavery – falsely accused of trying to rape his boss’s wife – thrown into prison in a foreign land... And all the while, Joseph worshiped God – and trusted Him completely. And the end of the story was an incredible testimony to God’s love and grace and faithfulness. He too was able to save his family from starvation – and offer them a new life of prosperity in a new land.

• When I think of the cloud of witnesses, I think of Helen. I don’t know if she’s literally looking on and cheering us, but I still think of how much her life has encouraged us and inspired us to believe for great things. And I think of Margaret Cox – a lady who imparted wisdom and counsel and spiritual fervour in my life and Venese’s in Brisbane. She endured and persisted and persevered to the end. Hers was a powerful and anointed life also.

• The other key for us in this scripture is that we keep our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and prefects our faith. It goes on to say in verses 2 and 3 – “Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people;[c] then you won’t become weary and give up.”

• Our hardship and opposition is nothing compared to what Jesus Christ suffered on our behalf. His joy and His passion was our salvation – the freedom He bought us through His own death on the cross.

• But He was also the Saviour and Champion who broke the power of death through resurrection – the first among many of us who acknowledge and confess Him for who He really is – the Son of God.

• The bible says that today is the day of salvation. It’s true of every day. His mercy and grace extended toward us is new every morning.

• Today – I want to give you the opportunity to respond to Jesus Christ in acknowledgement of His gracious gift of life and salvation – whether you have done it before or not. Let’s all pray this together....