The Power of Endurance
1 Amens
Living with Power: The Power of Endurance
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Intro: Is it worth it? We’ve all asked that question.
Baseball. I quit. It wasn’t worth it I thought. It just got too hard.
Homes are filled on Sunday mornings with people who say, “It just got too hard. It wasn’t worth it.”
Temptation to sin and temptation to give up on faith is a real struggle. For some people it is just getting so caught up with life outside of the church that people just quit going. But God calls us to endure. He calls us to endure in our relationship with the Christ and in community with His body – the church. What is endurance really all about?
Meaning of endure: to stay behind, to wait
The power to endure is actually the power to wait. “I hate waiting.”
Proposition: God calls us to endure through this life as we wait on a person - Christ Jesus.
I. Remember who you are waiting for. (8-10)
It can be hard to wait when you don’t think there is a good reason for it.
Ex. Someone at work you don’t care about says, “wait for me after work. I need to ask you a favor.” 5 minutes – I’m out of here. COMPARE: Boss asks you to wait after work to talk about your promotion. 15 minutes – I’m still waiting.
You are waiting for someone special and worth waiting for: Jesus.
Ex. Hated getting left as kid. Meant I wasn’t important. Walking in snow at age 6.
Jesus is worth waiting for!
“What should I remember about Him to help me endure?”
- Remember who He is. “descendent of David”
What’s the big deal about who He is a descendent of? It points us to the Old Covenant. The central motif of the whole Bible is that Jesus would be glorified. Read the Bible with that in mind.
Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac.
Ruth – married Boaz. Son Obed. Son Jessie. Son David.
David sins with Bathsheba – later would have Solomon.
All of these events and more led to Jesus.
God has used the events of your life to make Jesus known to you. He has written two love stories to you. 1. His word. 2. Your life.
Ex. Chain of events to be your pastor. Dated Sarah Beeler. Met Roger Bear. Visited his church. Started preaching. Became SBC. Went to SBTS. In 2001 you had no pastor and got my name from Roger Bear and asked me to come preach multiple Sundays. 5 years later you would be without a pastor again and ask me to preach. Wanted me to apply, but I said no until Tony and Angel Sanders invited us over for a young couples night at their house.
God uses thing…some good and even some bad stuff you go through to get you where He wants you.
It all leads up to you finally finding Him – and then you find the whole time He had found you and has been drawing you to Himself.
You did not choose Me, but I chose you. John 15:16
Never forget that your life and God’s word testify of the one worth waiting for. It makes life worth enduring when you really remember who Jesus is.
- Remember what He has done for you. “risen from the dead”
Amy wondered about expository preaching through 2 Timothy. And then I read her this verse.
Today we celebrate the greatest event in history. Christ was crucified for your sin and then risen from the dead!! He is risen! That means He is the way, the truth, and the life. We have a redeemer!
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die; 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:6-10
We are to constantly remind ourselves of the gospel. When you remember what Christ has done for you – it causes you to wait for Him – to not forget about Him. He has proved He is worth waiting for.
Ex. Olivia – stood me up. Next Christmas – apologized and then stood me up again. She proved she was not worth waiting for.
How can you not wait for the one who laid His own life down for you???
Come thou Fount of Every Blessing:
O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
- Tell others what He has done for you. (9-10)
Apostle Paul is imprisoned for sharing the gospel of Christ. His friends have left him. Yet he endures. He endures by doing whatever it takes to get the gospel out. He says, “I’m in jail – but the gospel isn’t.”
Don’t just stand there – do something. He’s not only worth waiting for – He is worth sharing.
Be passionate about the passion.
Don’t let God be a water pitcher in your life. Allow Him to be a fountain.
Ex. Pouring water into cup and just drink. But if you stay around other cups you will spill over into them.
And one of the best ways to remember Christ and to endure is to share it with other people!
Ex. One of the best ways to avoid divorce is to always tell people how awesome your spouse is and how much you love them. Had a pastor tell me that if he sees something tempting he begins to speak out loud or to himself about how awesome his wife it.
Never stop proclaiming that Christ is risen!
II. Answer the question: Are you waiting for Him? (11-13)
- What it means to say yes.
- Die to live. (salvation) (v. 11)
Today we celebrate the resurrection. To wait for Him means you have died and experienced the resurrection too – personally!
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. Romans 6:5
- Endure to reign. (Pursue holiness) (v. 12)
Paul says that if you a believer then you will endure till the end. You will not deny Christ. You do this by pursuing Christ and His holiness.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Hebrews 10:36-39
- What it means to say no. (Vv. 12-13)
To say you are not waiting for Him means to deny Christ and be faithless. (Hell is a real place.)
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33
“Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it.” – John Edwards
I don’t say this to be cruel or mean or for any other reason but to give you the truth: If you die without giving your life to the Lordship of Christ then you will go to Hell.
“There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God”.
–John Edwards
God will remain faithful. What does that mean? Faithful to His justice and faithful to His grace.
The Lord…is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
Conclusion: I began talking about quitting baseball, because it just got too hard. A League of Their Own. Dottie quits the team.
Jimmy Dugan: Taking a little day trip? Dottie Hinson: No, Bob and I are driving home. To
Dottie Hinson: Well, you were wrong. Jimmy Dugan: Was I?
Dottie Hinson: Yeah. It is only a game, Jimmy. It's only a game, and, and, I don't need this. I have Bob; I don't need this. At all. Jimmy Dugan: I, I gave away five years at the end my career to drink. Five years. And now there isn't anything I wouldn't give to get back any one day of it.
Dottie Hinson: Well, we're different. Jimmy Dugan: Dottie, if you want to go back to
Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.
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