Perseverance

 Perseverance by William Keller

The deep things of God never come easy.

Are you willing to pay the price?

Most people are so bound up in their own weaknesses, they get so distracted by the changing winds of life, that they never get to a place where they can understand this reality. However, for those who want more of God -- all of God they can get, are willing to lay down their lives and give everything they have to the Lord -- this word will resonate for you.

The key word in this message is PERSEVERANCE. Because the enemy of God's purposes is relentless in his assault against those who want to fully serve the Lord's purposes, following His path never gets any easier; in fact, the battles intensify as time goes on. The more you strive to do for the Kingdom of Christ, the more challenges to your effort you will have to endure. Your resolve to serve Jesus means there will be more of the enemy's attacks you will have to overcome -- you will have to persevere.

Nobody enjoys pain or conflict; nobody likes being the enemy's target of attack. To avoid the onslaught of the evil one, much of the Lord's work is done within the safety of the Christian subculture, behind the walls of the church.

Our sequestering of ourselves within the safety of the sphere the world allows us is a large part of the reason we have very little influence or impact on the unsaved world around us!

Contrast our effort to win the lost with the life of Paul. It would have been easy for Paul to sit back in the comfort and safety of the churches he pioneered and take on that apostolic role and live a life of honor, ease, comfort, and luxury.

While Paul did oversee the churches he founded, he never stopped or slowed down in fulfilling God's mission for his life to take the Gospel to the lost and hurting outside the four walls of the church. He pressed forward, tirelessly, until the very end when he was martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ.

Despite the great personal sacrifices, putting his life on the line each day, fighting all of the obstacles he had to face each step of the way, Paul PERSEVERED!

Like Paul, you are not going to fulfill God's plan for your life in serving the Lord without being able to persevere. That is because the things of God don't come easy, and won't come without a fight because there is a very real enemy who will do all he can to stop you. To be an effective witness for Christ as Paul was, you must not let, satan fight harder for souls than you do!

You can't persevere by giving God 25%. You can't persevere by giving God 50%. You can't persevere by giving God 80%. You can't persevere by giving God 95%.

TO PERSEVERE, TO BE AN EFFECTIVE WITNESS OF THE NEED OF MANKIND FOR A SAVIOR, YOU HAVE TO BE SOLD OUT, 100% TO THE LORD!!!

As the Apostles of old proved, it doesn't take too many men totally sold out for Jesus to turn this world upside down. The work of the disciples of the Lord, and in particular, of one man, Paul, is still being felt today. The disciples of Jesus, who after His resurrection and being filled with the Holy Spirit, were totally sold out for the Lord and laid the foundation that the Christian faith has been built upon.

During that time, it has been men and women of God who were sold out for the Lord, 100% committed to Him, men and women who PERSEVERED, who have taken the Gospel to the world and helped millions of people find everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Do you want to carry on their work? Do you want to share God's "unspeakable gift" with the lost and dying?

If you do, be steadfast in your own 100% commitment to Him, and PERSEVERE in your effort to share Him with those who do not know Him.