We conquer by Enduring

Bikers Church Cape Town

We conquer by Enduring Endurance is the ability to persist and exert oneself over a long period of time, while conquering is the act of overcoming adversity. If I endure, I will conquer Hebrews 10:36 - 'For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise …' Hebrews 10:36 (Amp) – For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised. This is no time for ease, comfort or procrastination. It is time to ENDURE - to press on and press through. Why is endurance so important in the life of God’s children It is because Endurance (perseverance) is the key to a productive, fruitful, effective, overcoming life The most authentic thing about a child of God is their capacity to endure any hardship and suffering. You are equipped to endure. In Romans 5:3-4 the Apostle Paul says: “3Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. 4 And endurance (fortitude)* courage in pain or Adversity develops maturity of character (approved faith and [b]tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Endurance mostly runs parallel to pain, tribulation and opposition. Do not despair! This is where the master plan of God is revealed once more – where He catches the devil in his own schemes. The devil says, 'let’s give them pain and opposition, let’s threaten them, distract them, disappoint them, make them depressed, anything to get them to quit this walk of faith.' God looks at this and says, 'keep your eyes on Me; keep on loving me; keep on obeying Me and you will see Me turn this very cursed plan of the devil around to give you greater breakthroughs and awesome opportunities! You didn’t imagine was possible. Don’t quit! Keep on keeping on and you will see My salvation!' An Enduring life is never forged in the lap of luxury or in the comfort-zone but in the reality of opposition. You conquer when you endure. Let opposition and adversity be your fitness instructors for endurance in God’s will. What must we endure in? From our text we can plainly see that endurance is tested in the area of doing His will. The following are key issues of His will that we need to keep on doing: Loving God. Loving others. Listening to His voice. Reading and Doing His Word. Praying. Believing. Proclaiming the Gospel. Doing good. Living by mercy and truth; and Giving. If you want make progress and mature, you will need to ENDURE (persevere) in doing life according to God’s ways. It is all about keeping on doing His will. While we endure in doing God’s will a wonderful work is done in us. Endurance builds character and releases hope. (See Romans 5:3,4) Tested, persevering people are hopeful people! While we are doing God’s will there is a powerful inner peace and a sense of His security released in us. Revelation 3:10 the Word of God promises us: 'Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Boost your endurance In Hebrews 12:1-2 “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 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. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. We find the following instructions to boost our endurance: Surround yourself with encouraging believers – a cloud of witnesses, not sceptical pessimists and doomsday prophets like Job’s friends; Lay aside every weight. (Self-imposed duties and responsibilities).What burden, problem, hurt or habit is weighting you down? Get rid of sin; and Set your eyes on Jesus who endured and sat down in the victor’s seat! Jesus showed endurance in fulfilling His Father’s will to die on the cross. The Father kept His promise and raised Him from the dead to be seated in the ultimate place of victory. CONCLUSION - We have great examples! Praise God for the likes of a Joseph, Caleb, Abraham, David, Joshua, Paul and the other Hebrews 11 heroes of faith who kept on and on! They conquered by enduring. Endurance in His will brings promises to fulfilment. What great encouragement 'If we endure, we will reign with Him!' -2 Timothy 2:12 By endurance we conquer! Praise God for the many others who have endured and left inspiring examples of breakthrough by their endurance. Endurance can make miracles happen: An 8-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money left. They were moving to a smaller house because they could not afford to stay in the present house after paying the doctor’s bills. Only a very costly surgery could save him now and there was no one to loan them the money. When she heard daddy say to her tearful mother with a whisper, Andrew’s operation, “Only a miracle can save him now’, the child went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Clutching the precious jar tightly, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to the local drug store. She took 25 cents from her jar and placed it on the glass counter. “And what do you want?”, asked the pharmacist. “It’s for my little brother”, the girl answered back. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle.” “I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist. “His name is Andrew, and he has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?” “We don’t sell miracles here, child, I’m sorry”, the pharmacist said, smiling sadly at the little girl. “Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs”. In the shop was a well-dressed customer. He stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?” “I don’t know”, she replied with her eye welling up with tears. “He’s really sick and mommy says he needs an operation. But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought my savings”. “How much do you have?” asked the man. “I have 25 cents, but I can try and get some more”, she answered barely audibly. “Well, what a coincidence,” smiled the man. 25 cents is the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.” He took her money in one hand and held her hand with the other. He said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.” That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon specializing in Neurosurgery. The operation was completed without charge, and it wasn’t long before Andrew was home again and doing well. “That surgery”, her mom whispered, “was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost.” The little girl smiled. She knew exactly how much the miracle cost – 25 cents … plus the Endurance and perseverance and faith of a little child.