YOU NEED TO PERSEVERE

Intro.

Happy New Year…

Announcements …

Last Sunday Message: "Trusting Divine Promises”

He has given us his very great and precious promises.” - 2 Pet.1:4

I. God Has Promises for You!

II. We can Trust God's promises

because:

• He watches over His Word.

• They Never Fail

• He Has the Power to Fulfill.

III. Many of God's Promises are Conditional Promises.

We Must do Our Part in order for God to fulfill His part.

Promises of Salvation

Promises of Forgiveness of sins

Promises of Restoration

Promises of Healing

Today we will enter the New Year reflecting on the importance of persevering, because many of God's promises do not come true overnight, they take time, God's time.

For example:

Abraham, you will be the father of a great nation, but the first son of the promise came 25 years later! And the promise of the great nation came true many years later.

Joseph had a dream that he would be a leader... but that only came to pass 13 years later!

David was chosen to be the king of Israel when he was 13-15 years old, but he only became king when he was 30 years old.

They all waited for the promise to be fulfilled.

They all had to persevere in the promise.

You will have to persevere!

Hebrews 10:36 NIV

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

In the book of Revelation, a theme that stands out in the letters to the seven churches is PERSEVERANCE.

Watch this:

Ephesus: "I know your works,... you have persevered and have endured trials for my name's sake, and have not grown weary." (Rev.2:2,3)

Smyrna: ""Do not fear what you are about to suffer,... be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (v. 9a-10a,c)

Pergamum: "To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna" (v. 17)

Thyatira: "Only hold fast what you have until I come." To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations (v. 25-26)

Why does Jesus insist on telling us to persevere, …

…be faithful, hold on to what you have, and be victorious?

???

Answer: Because there will be opposition

Because once you continue to do God's will, even when everything around you is going south.

Once you understand that God's promises in Christ Jesus are yes and amem; it is only a matter of time before God's promises begin to be fulfilled in your life.

It is a done deal. God will bless you!

(Listen to last Sunday's message: 12/29 - ”Trusting God's Promises")

There is a beautiful revelation concerning God's promises in the Epistle to the Hebrews 6:13-18

Hebrews 6:13–18 (ESV)

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,

14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”

15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.

17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,

18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

Hebrews 6:19 ESV

19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

Hebrews 6:18 (ESV)

18 …it is impossible for God to lie"…

Satan knows that God does not back down.

Satan fights tooth and nail against God's people.

• He does everything and uses everything he can to prevent God's blessing in the life of the Believer.

• He uses people influenced by envy, selfishness, evil intents,

• He uses corrupt governments, etc.,...

I. Despite life's challenges and Satans’ opposition, the Bible shows that God can bless us.

An Example of this is found in Gen.26

Genesis 26:12–22 NIV

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.” 17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. 19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

a. At the time, few things were more important than water well.

The Gerar area was located on the edge of a desert.

Water was as precious as gold.

If someone dug a well, he was staking a claim to the land.

Some wells had locks to keep thieves from stealing the water.

To fill in someone's well with dirt was an act of war; it was one of the most serious crimes in the land.

b. Opposition from the Philistines/Enemy

Opposition to stop the flow of God's blessings in Isaac's life

They blocked the wells, out of envy! Disgust for Isaac's well-being. For his prosperity.

People become jealous when they see someone who has something they do not, or have more than they have.

People become jealous when they see someone doing a better job than they are doing, or perhaps even better than they want to do.

They stole the wells that were rightfully his

Wells represented God's blessings in Isaac's life

The enemy rose up to stop the Lord's blessings on the life of this man of God.

Obstacles will came, objections will came, impediments will came!

John 10:10 NIV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Proverbs 24:10 NIV

10 If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!

11. Isaac had every right to fight back when the Philistines ruined his wells, and yet he chose to keep the peace.

c. Isaac’s Response (to the acts of war!)

1. Instead of fighting for the possessions that were rightfully his, he gives names to the well and move on.

a. Esek: Contention, debate, dispute, controversy, war. v.20

b. Sitnah: Enmity, hatred, accusation-from the same root from which the word Satan is derived, who is the accuser" (Shedd Bible) v.21

e. Rehoboth: Breadth, enlargement v.22

2. Instead of giving up and becoming discouraged, he digs new wells.

3. What has risen up against you?

The Christian life can be hard and the enemy will certainly oppose you

He will try to fill up your wells of blessings

Trust in the Lord, persevere and dig other wells.

We go through opposition that sometimes repeats itself to try to stop the flow of blessings in our lives, but we can choose:

• To sit around grumbling, crying over the clogged well, the unjust life

• Or to pick up your shovel and dig a new well,

• To go out and say he blessed me once, he will bless me again!

4. Letting bitterness take over our life

5. Or patiently wait for God to act in our life in the best way

6. And what God wants for us is not better than what we want for ourselves?

7. Every time he digs, he finds water! Why? What is the lesson for us?

New Motivation Philippians 3:13-14

Philippians 3:13–14 NIV

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We can respond to the envious, naysayers trying to take by force what we do not yet have.

Ask God for the wisdom to know when to withdraw and when to stand and fight.

Or "dwell in the land which he said he would be with you and would bless you"

1- GOD CAN BLESS US, NO MATTER THE SITUATION

2- GOD CAN BLESSES US EVEN WHEN WE MAKE MISTAKES

3- GOD CAN BLESSES US DESPITE OPPOSITION

IV. ISAAC WENT TO BEERSHABA (26:23-33)

Genesis 26:23–33 NIV

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. 26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?” 28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.” 30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully. 32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.

1. That same night God reaffirms, "fear not, for I am with you" v.24

2. V.25 ISAAC RECOGNIZES God's blessings on his life, he worshiped and thanked the Lord.

3. All the affliction and opposition against Isaac made him go deeper into the promised land.

4. Figuratively this means closer to God

5. The same happens to us: 2 Cor. 4:17-18

2 Corinthians 4:17–18 NIV

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

6. What seems like a tragedy is what God usually uses to bring us very close to Him.

ENEMIES RECOGNIZE

7. V.26-32 Even his enemies recognize that Isaac was a man blessed by God. Instead of opposing him, they seek a peace treaty

e. Instead of Isaac getting angry, he makes a peace treaty.

f. And right after that, on the same day God gave him a new well! (v.33)

Conclusion:

Hebrews 10:36 NIV

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

Isaac was a man who faced setbacks, opposition, moral failure, and difficult situations yet God was able to bless him.

The same is true for you and me.

As we enter this new year, resolve today that with the help of God you will persevere!

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