Perseverance; Persistence; Patience

Outline by M. Cornwell.

 

FILING INFORMATION:

2000042

Subject: Christian attitudes

Preached Originally: 07/23/00 – Rapid City, SD

 

Introduction:/

A.    Text for today’s lesson were written by Hebrew writer to encourage those who were b/c weary in living the Christian life.

1.    Some Hebrew Christians were in danger of throwing away their wonderful privileges in Christ

2.    this letter is the writer warning them to improve.

B.    To be a faithful Christian – one must have patience, persistence, perseverance, steadfastness & endurance.

1.    Perseverance, persistence, and patience pays in every aspect of life – not just the Christian life!

C.   What do the following men have in common?

1.    Babe Ruth – holds record for home runs hit in the # of games in which he played.

a)    he also holds the record for the # of strike outs – over 1,300 times he struck out.

2.    Thomas Edison failed over 14,000 times in his efforts to invent the light bulb

3.    Albert Einstein possessed one of the greatest minds that has ever lived.

a)    failed courses in mathematics.  Went on to be a mathematical genius.

4.    Abraham Lincoln – 16th president of US.  Lost 8 elections before being elected president.

5.    There are many others just like these men - & they all had one thing in common – perseverance, persistence, and patience.

 

I.  Perseverance, persistence, patience PAYS IN MARRIAGE.

A.    many a man has succeeded in getting that very first date and later marrying.

1.    because of perseverance, persistence, and patience.

2.    maintaining a close relationship throughout the years takes everyone of these traits.

B.    It takes both parents to have perseverance & patience in raising children.

1.    Eph. 6:4; Prov. 22:6

2.    raising children in the Lord is a challenging job as anyone will ever undertake.

a)    it takes a lot of diligent effort.

b)    It is easy to ignore unacceptable behavior.

c)    It is easy to fall short of persistent teaching of the will of God.

d)    It takes a great deal of patience to produce respectful – well mannered children.

 

II.  Perseverance….persistence….patience PAYS IN LIVING FOR CHRIST.

A.    2 Pet. 3:18 – the Lord wants every Christian to grow up.

1.    2 Cor. 13:11 – there comes a time when we need to put away childish behaviors.

2.    we need persistent study, exercise, work in the Lord to obtain spiritual maturity.

3.    Heb. 5:13-6:1 - we need to study the word of God and exercise ourselves to godliness to grow spiritually. 

4.    2 Pet. 1:5-8 – maturity only comes by doing the will of God and by seeking His ways.

5.    Heb. 10:35, 39 – finishing the race set before us will bring us great spiritual rewards.

 

III.  Since Perseverance, persistence, patience pays – why do people quit?

A.    They let obstacles overcome them rather than overcoming obstacles.

1.    Phil. 3:13-14 – we must always be pressing towards our goals.

B.    They quit because they are unwilling to pay the price for victory.

1.    anything worthwhile usually involves pain.  No pain no gain.

2.    Christian life like a marathon – one must run through the pain and exhaustion to catch that second wind.  (Heb. 12:1)

C.   They lose sight of the goal.

1.    Heb. 12:2 – lose sight of Jesus and all He has done to make salvation possible.

2.    Phil. 3:20-21 – they lose sight of the heavenly reward.

3.    1 Jhn. 2:15 – they are too much in love w/the world.

4.    simply give up too easy.

 

IV.  Failure does not have to be fatal or even final!

A.    Dropping the ball, or making an error does not mean we quit the game!

1.    often a good coach will put his players immediately back into the game after they have fumbled the ball.

a)    he knows that his players will become discouraged if he takes them completely out of the game.

b)    Spiritual slumps will happen to everyone.  We must stay in the race.

B.    Consider John Mark – the writer of the 1st book written of the NT.

1.    He made a remarkable come back – See the book of Acts.

2.    12:25; 13:13; 15:38-40

3.    Mark redeemed himself – 2 Tim. 4:11.

C.   Tribulations and afflictions make us only stronger.  Consider Rom. 5:3-5.

1.    Affliction/tribulation is a great teacher of perseverance persistence and patience.

a)    commonly called the school of hard knocks.

b)    There are many graduates of that “great” school of learning.

 

Conclusion:

A.    Winston Churchill took 3 years getting through the eighth grade b/c he had a problem w/English. 

1.    several years later Oxford University asked him to address their commencement exercise. 

2.    Churchill settled in at the podium…cane and top hat in place…..he eyed the crowd and said these few words…

3.    never give up!  After several seconds of silence, he rose up on his toes and repeated  never give up.  With that his address concluded.

B.    Christians – in the words of Winston Churchill never give up!

C.   Gal. 6:9 – perseverance, persistence, patience can be summed up this way.

D.   I N V I T A T I O N