Perseverance

 Matthew 24:9-14

9Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, 11and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.

12Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. 13But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Perseverance definition: Endurance, steadfastness, patient waiting for. Cheerful endurance, constancy.

Many passages in the Bible contain warnings of coming persecutions, beatings, floggings and torture to those who preached the gospel of Christ. Most of those passages read like a prerequisite to being a Christian is a life of pain and suffering. For me this is one of the main reasons to believe in Jesus, God and the gospel of Christ. If you were to go out into the streets and preach a new gospel to people and it was something that was completely contradictory to everyone's current theology and they beat and killed the followers and they tortured them and did unspeakable things to them, if it wasn't real, no one would endure or persevere through all that for something false. It would most definitely have to be life changing for anyone to endure what the early church endured. If it wasn't real, would those Christians not renounce Jesus when threatened with lions or being burned to death. 

Matthew 10:16-20 Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17But beware of men; for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18On My account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say. 20For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

This is what caused them to suffer for righteousness sake. This is what caused them to persevere. Can you imagine the amount of good one person did by being sent in front of a group of peers, being tried for blasphemy and God's words leap from their mouths. For anyone within earshot which had even the slightest knowledge of what was going on, the encouragement would be overwhelming. Sitting in the jail testifying that God the Father was talking through them, that the words they spoke were not their own but they were the Father's words would be a battle cry for perseverance. News would spread like wildfire as more could testify that God worked through them.

It was a different atmosphere then, full of danger yet so full of the Spirit's guidance. It's amazing how the Spirit shines through in times of pain and suffering. It's in moments like these where we cannot do anything, therefore we fully rely on Him to take control. Living in a country where the freedom of speech and religion has afforded us relative peace in the church, has created a situation where no one truly relies on the Spirit of God like they did back then. 

If we were being targeted with violence each Sunday as we pulled in the parking lot of our church; lawyers, cops, and advocates would come to the rescue. They had nothing but the Spirit of God to comfort them and to guide them through their issues. In this country, we have it easy compared to what they went through and our softness and lack of Spiritual reliance shows. Sure there's massive amounts of Christians in this country but out of those, who can say they have a reliable relationship with God, that they hear His voice and obey it, that they are led by the Spirit; I'd say not too many. Heck, most don't believe the Spirit gives you power to do any of the Spiritual gifts like tongues or prophecy. 

Perseverance comes by sufferings. We never hear of people persevering through a good time. Whew, I just barely made it through this perfect day today. The sky was blue, the temperature was great, everything went the way I wanted, boy I'm glad God was with me today so I cold persevere through all that comfort and ease. No one has ever said that! Instead, we complain when our coffee spills on our shirt going down the road or when the red lights make you late for work. We cry out when our order is made incorrectly or our lives are so inconvenienced by traffic. Our lives are tough compared to being fed to a large hungry cat. No comparison there!

If we look at the passages of  Matthew 24:12-13 above, then we can see a more sinister form of attack. In our ease and complacency we have become too familiar with things being made smooth. In our comfort we trade in the leading of the Holy Spirit for love of self and as in the passage, the love (which is the Father's love in us) will grow cold. 

Faith for the early Christians required that through all those tortures and all those sufferings, that they not harbor hate towards those that caused them pain or death. They were convicted to love everyone whether they agreed with them or not. As Christ said, forgive them Father, they know not what they do, so did the early Christians. It wasn't because of imitation they did this. If it was merely imitation, they would have folded and left the faith before it went through the first suffering. Instead, the nature of Jesus coursed through their hearts and it was Him living in them that gave them the ability to endure and to love those killing them. 

Today we are too self absorbed to love the one cutting us off in traffic le alone someone coming to take our lives. We scream and shout and throw a hissy fit on social media every time we think our rights are being stepped on. We whine every time someone doesn't agree with us and we do the persecution of anyone not walking the way we do. Oh how the roles have reversed. The early church was persecuted unto death and today we persecute in the name of the Lord with words off hate, which kill and destroy.

Yes, this is what is meant by the love of most will grow cold. This is what we are fighting through today. 

Apostasy comes in slowly as we settle for ease and comfort. A coldness and emptiness of the heart is our enemy threatening to take away our life, which is God. We say we love and we say we are followers but take away the comfort and ease and our true colors are revealed. Can we persevere through the selfishness of out times. Can we be real with God and can His love endure in us. Those that came after Christ were hunted and killed for their religion because it created such a stir in the darkened hearts of men. If we don't shine, then darkness has nothing to complain about. 

Change is coming though. Persecutions will rise. The church must be tried with fire to burn away the impurities. Those that remain will shine like gold and will be God's people where those that fall away are tortured by their failure to see the truth. The days are coming and have already come where great shaking and turmoil will take place in God's church. Those that have not relied upon God will turn on those that have. Those that walk in the Spirit will be persecuted by those that walk in the flesh. The ones who say they are Christian will rise against the ones who are Christ like. 

To God be the Glory!