Will You Be Consistent? Will You Persevere?

Consistency and Perseverance   •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Jesus teaches the Pharisees and His disciples about how to be consistent at praying. When difficulty or delay preset themselves to the saints, then consistency can be joined by perseverance.

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Luke 18:1-8 CSB

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 18)
Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up.
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Luke 18:1-8 CSB

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 18)
2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people.

Luke 18:1-8 CSB

3 And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

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Luke 18:1-8 CSB

4 “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people,

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Luke 18:1-8 CSB

5 yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’ ”

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Luke 18:1-8 CSB

6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.

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Luke 18:1-8 CSB

7 Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?

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Luke 18:1-8 CSB

8 I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

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What is A Parable?

Parable: noun
a short simple story illustrating a moral or spiritual truth.
www.merriam-webster.com
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Why did Jesus use Parables?

Matthew 13:10–13 (CSB)
10 Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”
11 He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.
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He used Parables for Two Reasons:

Reason 1: To Teach His Disciples Reason 2: To Prevent Understanding by Others

In other words, Jesus told his disciples that used parables for two reasons. The first reason is so that his disciples could learn the kingdom's secrets, while others, who were not among his disciples, would be left in the dark.
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Why would Jesus leave the people who wasn’t his disciples in the dark?
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12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

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These words from Matthew 13:12 are identical to what Jesus said in Matthew 25:29 as a part of the Parable of the Talents. And I believe that connection can help us understand what Jesus is saying about his reason for teaching in parables. In this parable, three servants were entrusted with a sum of money. Two of them invested their master's money well, while a third failed. The master commended and rewarded the first two servants, but the third one was punished. Jesus put these words into the mouth of the master as he punished the unfaithful servant. The one who was not faithful with what his master gave him lost even the little bit he had.
The disciples who followed Jesus were like the servants who faithfully invested their master's money. And they were given "the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven." The crowds who followed Jesus simply because of the miracles were in the place of the third servant. They were not interested in discipleship, and they lost their chance to be a part of the kingdom.
What are you consistently investing in? We all invest in something. Even if you don’t have money, the one thing we all consistently use as our investment asset is our time.
We wake up in the morning and immediately begin spending our precious time on things that won’t bring us any closer to God.
We’ll consistently grab our phones and start scrolling. Looking for that instant gratification.
Or look
Or we’ll consistently go to other things or people FIRST about our problems instead of God.
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The Earthly Story Behind the Parable

[20] When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable;
It’s not coming with special goggles, you won’t capture it on your iPhones or Samsung Galaxy.
[21] no one will say, 'See here!' or 'There!' For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst."
[22] Then he told the disciples, "The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won't see it.
Many believers LONG to see God’s kingdom. Endtime Prophecy is trending at an ALL-TIME high right now. Look on Youtube.
[23] They will say to you, 'See there!' or 'See here!' Don't follow or run after them.
In 500 A.D. Hippolytus of Rome, Sextus Julius Africanus, Irenaeus These three Christian theologians predicted Jesus would return in the year 500. One prediction was based on the dimensions of Noah's ark.
[24] For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in his day.
[25] But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
[26] "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man:
[27] People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
[28] It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.
[29] But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.
[30] It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
Its the same today, what do we do when we don’t see God moving the way that we think He should move?
We say things like, “God doesn’t care about my situation.”
“God’s not going to help me.”
“God must not be real. Because if He was real, He would see what I’m going through and why I’m suffering!”
“I have to do it myself, because if I don’t do it, then who will?”
[31] On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back.
[32] Remember Lot's wife!
[33] Whoever tries to make his life secure will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
[34] I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.
[35-36] Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."
[37] "Where, Lord?" they asked him. He said to them, "Where the corpse is, there also the vultures will be gathered."
In other words, EVERYONE will know when Christ’s Kingdom will come because it will be a WORLD-WIDE EVENT!
So how do we stay consistent and persevere in our walk today? Well, let’s look at the what the woman in the parable did.
Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 18)
2 “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people. 3 And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
Now already the odds are stacked against the woman 2-1
She was a widow. So she was already seen as an outcast.
Widows, along with other unfortunates and outcasts of respectable Jewish society, are among those to whom Jesus regularly ministers and extends God’s grace and favor. The judge’s callousness toward the widow is clearly in violation of biblical injunctions
Craig A. Evans, The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew–Luke, ed. Craig A. Evans and Craig A. Bubeck, First Edition. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2003), 367.
Strike 1: The Judge didn’t fear God
Strike 2: He didn't respect people
So you would think that this would be enough to strike her out, but like my dad used to say to me growing up playing baseball, all it takes is one pitch! Keep fighting for that 1 pitch!
So let’s see what the woman does. Is she going to go down swinging or will she keep fighting?
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Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 18)
4 “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’ ”
That’s the reward of someone who is persistent, consistent, and perseveres!
This woman wasn’t taking NO for an answer!
Here is how I imagined the interactions went.
She probably took any and every opportunity to request the judge to avenge her of her adversaries.
He probably got tired of her interrupting his courtroom session with her constant complaining about injustice.
So she would sit outside of the courtroom and tell the judge, “AVENGE ME OF MY ADVERSARIES!”
6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?
The woman had to overcome the judge’s reluctance to help.
We often feel that we must do the same when we pray – use our persistence to overcome God’s reluctance.
This misses the point of the parable entirely.
Jesus did not say that men always ought to pray and not lose heart because God is reluctant, but because He isn’t, and that is our encouragement to prayer.

James 5:16

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

Sometimes it does seem to us that God is reluctant to answer our prayers.
Yet the delays in prayer are not needed to change God, but to change us.
Persistence in prayer brings a transforming element into our lives, building into us the character of God Himself.
It is a way that God builds into us a heart that cares about things the same way He does.

Check your Motive!

2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Give story about niece and her love of Cheetos
8 I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
This ties Jesus’ thought to His words about His coming at the end of the previous chapter.
Unless we know who God is (being not like the unjust judge) and unless we are people who pray without losing heart, we don’t yet have the kind of faith Jesus will look for when He returns.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary (18:1–8)
When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? was not spoken out of ignorance.
Nor was He questioning whether all believers would be gone when He returns.
Instead, He asked the question to spur the disciples on to faithfulness in prayer, to encourage them to keep on in their praying.

So How Do We Be Consistent With God?

Consistency Brings Us Close
4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.
Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4). To abide is to endure without yielding, to continue in a place, to remain stable. Abiding is simply spending time together, day in and day out.
What many us of do instead is pop in for a quick chat with God when it’s convenient then disappear for weeks Consistency is the key to close relationship in our everyday lives and our spiritual lives. Consistency in our time with God starts with simple changes, but those simple changes can make a big impact.

3 Ways to be Consistent

• Find time to be alone. Set aside a time to spend with God every day without distractions. • Be consistent. If you can watch the same TV show every week, make it to the same job every day, or remember to eat, you’ve got what it takes to be consistent. God wants to spend time with us daily. When you are consistently in God's Word, you will only grow closer to Jesus! • Get rid of distractions! Anything that is getting in the way of you and Jesus will derail you faith and pull you further away from your God-given calling.
As minister Jonathan McReynolds would say: My friends (move that over) My family (You can move that over) My relationships (You can move that over) Whatever it is (You can move that over, too) My Facebook time (You can move that over) My Instagram time (You can move that over)

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

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James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and He will come near to you."
Are you as close to God as you want to be?
If not, are you consistent in your relationship with Him?
Consistency is not found in how much of the Bible you can read or recite, but in the commitment to spend time in God’s Word and in His presence on a regular basis.

What does the Bible teach about Perseverance?

The Bible has a lot to say about perseverance in several different contexts.
Clearly, the Scriptures teach that those who “overcome” and persevere in the faith will inherit eternal life (Revelation 2:7).
This truth is also expressed in Colossians 1:23 where we see that people will be holy, blameless, and above reproach “if they continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel.”
So all Christians should be in agreement that those who are ultimately saved are those who do persevere and continue to believe the gospel.
James also exhorts us to persevere “under trials” because those who do will be blessed and will receive the “crown of life” which God has promised (James 1:12).
Just as the true believer will be eternally secure in his salvation, his faith will also persevere in affliction, sickness, persecution, and the other trials of life that befall all believers.
If we desire to live godly lives in Christ, we will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), but the faithful will persevere, kept by the power of the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our salvation and who will keep us “strong to the end,” persevering so we will be “blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8).
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The Difference Between Persistence and Perseverance

Perseverance is the ability to maintain that same energy and consistency through the process of overcoming painful circumstances.

What if you lose your job? Your Family? Your Health? Will you persevere? will these things shake your faith and commitment to God?

Persistence is simply the act of pursuing a course of action with the same energy and consistency.

I’m going to spend 30 minutes with the Lord everyday! Even when I don’t feel like it!

How do you Persevere?

Revelation 12:11 CSB They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death.
Revelation 12:11 (FSB): The knowledge that Satan could be defeated by faith, witness, and perseverance would have been a tremendous encouragement to the members of the seven churches and others being pressured to compromise spiritually. 12:11 Martyrdom may seem like a defeat for the martyrs, but it is actually a victory for the Lamb.
The beast may be allowed to “conquer the saints” (13:7), but by loving Christ more than their own lives, they “conquer” him. They display that Christ is worth more than their lives.

CONCLUSION

Be Consistent
Be Persistent
Persevere at all costs!
How do you be consistent in your walk?
Make time to be alone with God.
Commit to keeping that alone time no matter how you feel.
Get rid of distractions.
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How do you be persistent in your walk?
Set Christ before you as your goal!
Be unwavering in your commitment to him.
“Keep that same energy”
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How do you persevere?
Build your house on the Rock. That rock being the Word.
When trials come, lean closer to God instead of drifting further away.
Be FULLY persuaded!
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Romans 8:37–39 CSB
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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